I want to buy a new home and I need to borrow $500,000. Lender A has a very attractive APR of 5.10% on a fi xed 30 - year mortgage, but he or she will only lend me $350,000.

Lender B will give me a second mortgage for the remaining $150,000, but he or she wants 7.20% for a fi xed 30 - year mortgage. Lender C will loan me the entire $500,000, but he or she wants 6.5% for a fi xed 30 - year mortgage. What should I do?

Your fi rst instinct should be to treat this as a trick question. The best fi nancial deal is to take Lender A ’ s loan for $350,000 and then take only the remaining $150,000 from lender C. I ’ m going to force you to do some work here: Lender C handles “ jumbo ” mortgages only; $500,000 is his or her minimum mortgage — take it or leave it.