Getting a mortgage can mean keeping track of a lot of moving parts. Savvy shoppers know to ask lenders about interest rates, closing costs and how much they can borrow.

By Credit.com

But even seasoned buyers may not know to dig a little deeper. Here’s a look at five key things homebuyers often forget to ask mortgage lenders:

What’s the Annual Percentage Rate? Interest rates get advertising attention, but you need to pay equally close attention to the annual percentage rate (APR). The interest rate, or note rate, is stated on the mortgage note and is used to calculate your monthly payments. But it may not reflect the overall cost of borrowing.

Let’s say Lender X offers you a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.5% interest. Lender Y offers the same mortgage for 4.25%. This would seem to be a no-brainer. But we’re missing some key information, namely all the other costs associated with the loan, from closing costs and origination fees to mortgage insurance and more. Lender Y may have the lower rate, but this loan could cost you more in the long run if their costs and fees are higher.

That’s why you need to look at the APR, which factors in those costs beyond just your interest rate. It’s also why lenders are now required to disclose APR. Otherwise, they could hide fees and charges behind an incredibly low — yet ultimately misleading — interest rate.

Do I Have to Escrow Taxes and Insurance? Homeowners paid on average about $800 per year for homeowners insurance in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the Census Bureau. The average property tax bill that year was $1,200. A lender may require you to escrow funds to cover those bills. Instead of writing a $1,200 check at year’s end to pay those taxes, a lender will have you split that total into 12 equal payments.

Your mortgage payment would include that month’s portion of your property tax and homeowners insurance bills. The money sits in an escrow account until your lender pays the bills on your behalf. Some homeowners would prefer to pay those bills all at once rather than part with a portion each month. Whether you have to escrow funds can depend on where you live, your loan-to-value ratio and other factors.

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