Can you get that directly from the IRS? I download any tax-related forms and certs I’m asked for directly from the agency involved, except for one that’s from my City Hall and… well, let’s just say that making such things available is a bit above their heads.
I had something similar when buying my current house. For context, this was at the bottom of the recession, and the house had been on the market for 9 months or more. I put in an offer at the maximum of what I could afford, but much less than the asking price. It seemed that the selling realtor was offended, and didn’t even bother to respond. My agent finally got a firm “no” from her. A couple months later we came back to the same house and made the same offer, with a cover letter basically saying, “we know the house is worth more, but this is the most we can afford.” By that point it had been on the market for a year, and they took the offer. That was the most I could afford, but probably not much less than the house was worth—I mean, nobody else was willing to pay any more than that.
As mentioned, once you’re pre-qualified or whatever, you’ll lock in the current rates, and be able to keep them for a time, even if they go up. If they go down, you can usually get the new rate.
Basis points are extra money you can pay up front, usually to get a lower interest rate, or something. There are online calculators that can help you figure out if it is worth the up front cost. For example, maybe you pay $2500 extra up front, but then have a lower interest rate, so in 5 years you will have saved $2500. You also have to compare that to just paying $2500 more on the down payment or against the principle. Anyway, I’ve never seen basis points to be worth while, usually you just want a loan without them.
It is probably best to shop around online. There are many websites which will compare different rates. If you prefer to work with a particular bank or broker, only consider that for the actual creation of the loan. Once the loan is done it will be sold, and serviced by somebody else. You have no control over that.
When shopping for the loan, look at the interest rate, and any fees associated with issuing the loan. Just like the basis points, you can use calculators to figure out if a more expensive loan, but with a lower interest rate, is worth it. In some states and at some banks, some of the fees may be negotiable. In my state the lender is required to provide information about all of the fees up front, so there aren’t any surprises. It can still be (deliberately) confusing: origination fee, document fee, taxes, tax fee, filing fee, title fee, processing fee, fee fee, etc.