If you're lucky enough to get approved for a mortgage, or even get a pre-approval for a home loan, how do you know if you're getting the best possible terms? One way to know a terrific deal from a so-so one, is to get an outside, professional opinion of your mortgage offer. Fortunately, this is now possible with the emergence of a handful of companies that will review your loan offer and give you feedback on it. They'll even tell you if the loan is suitable for you, based on certain criteria you've set.

One firm that provides home loan evaluations is Offer Angel, an online mortgage advice site launched in May 2007. "We are completely consumer driven," Meghan Burns, co-founder of OfferAngel.com told me when I interviewed her for my book Your First Home. "We're most concerned about educating the public and making sure they understand not just the rates and terms associated with their mortgages, but also the suitability of the loans they have."

According to Burns, during the housing boom, far more people were stuck with sub-prime, predatory loans than was necessary. This was especially true for minorities and women, according to data from the Federal Reserve. "When you say 'sub-prime loans,' people immediately think those loans are going to uneducated or low-income people, but that's just wrong," Burns says. "There are doctors and lawyers making tons of money that have sub-prime credit." She adds that predatory lending isn't just being charged a high interest rate, or being assessed a pre-payment penalty. "Essentially it's somebody taking out a loan at a cost that's higher than what they qualified for," Burns says.

To fight that problem, and to educate you about your mortgage, OfferAngel.com will evaluate your loan free of charge, or for a nominal fee. Here's how it works. Offer Angel is an open access site, accessible to consumers and loan originators. Your loan officer fills out a form that contains information about your proposed mortgage. OfferAngel.com asks for details – what Burns calls the "nitty gritty of the loan being offered." The loan officer must indicate information such as whether or not the loan is fixed rate or adjustable, and whether it has a pre-payment penalty or not.


"We want factual data," says Burns, who is a former mortgage loan officer. "Our system is not easily manipulated. The answers are either yes or no." Based on the information your lender presents, Offer Angel gives you a free report that analyzes your mortgage. The company's complimentary side-by-side mortgage report lets you compare up to four loan officers. The free report also includes explanations about basic loan terms.

For $24.95, Offer Angel gives you more detailed analysis, in the form of a Personalized Mortgage Report. "We never say: this is the lender you should go with," notes Burns. However, the company does warn you about mortgages that might not meet your stated needs and goals. For instance, if you say you plan to live in the house for just three years, and the loan contains a five-year pre-payment penalty, OfferAngel.com will alert you to that fact.

Or let's say you've indicated that you want a fixed interest rate, but the loan being offered is a 7/1 ARM. In such a case, OfferAngel.com would flag this and tell you that this loan's interest rate is likely to change. The Personalized Mortgage Report is designed to alert you to high costs in your loan or terms that might make your loan unfavorable right now – or down the road.

To use Offer Angel, simply submit your name, email, and the state in which you live. You don't have to disclose personal information, like your social security number, address, or phone number. Equally important, Offer Angel does not push one lender over another, sell or share your information, make mortgage loans, or act as a "lead generator" for others trying to sell you a mortgage.

So if you're not sure whether you're getting a suitable mortgage, get help from a neutral, third-party source like OfferAngel.com.

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Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, an award-winning financial news journalist and former Wall Street Journal reporter for CNBC, has been featured in the Washington Post, USA Today, and the New York Times, as well as magazines ranging from Essence and Redbook to Black Enterprise and Smart Money. Check out her New York Times best seller 'Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom.'