Shop around and get quotes – then, make sure that you're comparing apples to apples. First - who are you borrowing from? Is it a traditional lender or one who is considered second tier? Is it a large bank or a smaller one? Second, what are the terms of the loan? Is it a 5 year, 10 year or 30 year loan? How do the monthly payments work? Is there a prepayment penalty? What is the interest rate? Is it higher or lower than you wanted to pay? Is it fixed or variable? When you review all of these things on your loan comparison chart, you should be able to get a feel confident of the best offer with the least risk.