Suppose you're shopping for a mortgage and you want to make an apple-to-apple comparison of two offers. A neat online calculator can help you consider all kind of variables.

It's called the True Cost Calculator, and it was created by the big mortgage company Fannie Mae. Find it online at www.homepath.com and at some retail lenders including www.century21.com, www.coldwellbanker.com, www.era.com and www.usbank.com.

Here's how it works.

You're looking at a house priced at $180,000 and plan to make a 10 percent down payment. You want a fixed-rate loan for 30 years, but can't decide which is better-one at 8 percent with one point or another at 7.6 percent and three points.

The calculator makes quick work of this equation. The 7.6 percent mortgage is slightly less expensive than the 8 percent mortgage if you stay in the house seven years or more. And it will build up equity faster.

You can change the tax bracket and fiddle with a host of other numbers-closing costs, interest rate, points, down payment, private mortgage insurance and years you plan to stay in the house. You can compare two mortgages or find the true cost of just one.

The calculator also gives you the option of calculating all your closing fees.

Playing with the numbers gives you nuggets to think about, too. For example:

If you stay in the house seven years or longer without refinancing, the mortgage with three points is cheaper. But if you plan to stay six years or less, you're better off with the higher interest rate and fewer points.

The lower the interest rate, the faster you build up equity.

Ever wonder how lenders determine whether to give you a mortgage? The process has been secret for years.

Under pressure from the government, the process is becoming more open. On the Web site www.hsh.com, you can find out details of what goes into a credit score.

Here's a thumbnail sketch from the Web site:

Thirty-five percent of the score is determined by payment histories on your credit accounts, with recent history weighted more heavily.

Thirty percent is based on the amount of outstanding debt.

Fifteen percent depends on how long you've been a credit user. A longer history is better if you've always made timely payments.

Ten percent is recent history, and whether you've been actively seeking (and getting) loans or credit lines in the last few months.

Ten percent is calculated from the mix of credit you hold, including installment loans (such as car loans), leases, mortgages and credit cards.

Pamela Reeves writes this weekly mortgage column for Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail: reevesp@shns.com.

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