If you live in the state of Arkansas and you are thinking of buying or refinancing a home, you don’t have to stick with a regional bank or local lender.

In fact, anyone thinking of home ownership or refinancing should do as much research as possible on which lenders are making mortgages in the area and what their rates and their terms are. When looking for Arkansas home loans you can gather much of this information online just by going to some basic financial websites.

For instance, at www.bankrate.com you can click on the mortgage tab, enter the state where you need the mortgage, the term you want, your approximate down payment, and the area within the state where you intend to buy. Bankrate.com will then do a search for the best mortgage rates in that area.

Searching for a $120,000 30-year fixed rate mortgage with a 20% down payment brought up the lenders Countrywide, the Money Store, Bank of America, Quicken Loans, E-Loan, Aim Loan, and Priceline Mortgage. What is especially helpful is the search tool brings up the interest rate, the fees associated with the loan, the monthly payment, the APR, and a direct link to each lender for additional information or prequalification.

When shopping for a loan, it is tempting to go for the lowest monthly payment and ignore everything else, but play around a bit and see which loan saves you the most money over the long run. For example, on the 120,000 30-year loan Aim Loan offers a $691 monthly payment but the fees included in the APR at $1995 are the highest of all the loans listed.

If you could afford to pay $957/moth with Aim Loan you could pay off your home in only 15 years at a lower interest rate and save a ton of money. Pay 1.76% in discount points (about $2100 at closing) and you can buy down the Aim Loan for the 30 year term a rate of only 5.25% and a monthly payment of $663.

Say you decide to go with Aim Loan and buy down the rate to 5.25 so your monthly payment for thirty years will only be $663, but after a few years you get a huge raise and decide you can send in more money each month. You start to send in an extra $150 each month after the first three years. By doing this, you will shave 8 years and eight months off the mortgage and save $35,939 on the amount paid. To play with this calculator, go to:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/mortgages/mortgage_payoff_calculator.asp

In short, the more information you gather ahead of time, the more you understand your choices before you even make an application, the better deal and the more house you will get whether you live in Arkansas, New York, or California. Go into your search armed with knowledge, and you have a much better chance of coming out with what you really want at the end.