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The paperwork
The standardized three-page quote every lender must give you within three business days of applying — designed so competing offers finally line up.
Page 1 states the loan (amount, rate, payment, and yes/no boxes for the features that hurt people — prepayment penalties, balloon payments). Page 2 itemizes every cost. Page 3 gives comparison measures (APR, five-year cost) built for holding two lenders side by side.
Its quiet superpower is the tolerance rule: the lender's own fees and the services they chose are not allowed to grow by closing, and a middle bucket can grow only ~10% in total. Knowing which lines are protected is how buyers catch real errors at the closing table.
Receiving one commits you to nothing — it isn't approval and it isn't acceptance. It is exactly the shopping document, and collecting two or three is the single highest-yield hour of the whole process.
Source: CFPB — Loan Estimate explainer
Who confirms it for you: Your own Loan Estimate for your loan — and our field-by-field walkthrough.
Educational, not advice — and never an eligibility determination. Program rules and loan requirements change; the cited source and the named confirmer are the authorities for your case.