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In a development that signals a profound shift in the way you borrow, online mortgage lending is projected to surge this year. Technology experts estimate that loan volume on the Internet will increase nearly threefold, from $265 million in 1997 to $750 million.

True, that's just a tiny fraction of the total $725 billion U.S. mortgage market. But it represents a huge opportunity for home buyers. Here's why: The companies that operate mortgage Websites are hoping to steer you to their advertisers--generally, lenders, moving companies and real estate agents. But to get your attention, they're adorning their Web pages with vital consumer tools such as up-to-the-minute mortgage-rate data. In addition, many provide electronic worksheets to let you calculate how much you will likely be able to borrow and what your monthly payments would be on a multitude of mortgage options.

To help you navigate the world of cybermortgages, MONEY asked experts in mortgage banking and Internet financial services to divulge their favorite sites. We then vetted their picks for accuracy and ease of use. Our overall impression: Mortgage shopping online can save you considerable time and effort in sorting through dozens of loan options and hundreds of potential lenders. But to make sure you're getting the best deal, compare any seemingly attractive online mortgage with terms offered by lenders in your area. "Local lenders have to provide more attractive deals than they used to, now that they're competing with the whole country for business," says Warren Myer, CEO of Myers Internet Services in San Jose.

Here's how to get the most out of an online money hunt, organized according to the steps involved in landing a mortgage.

Getting started: At interest.com and mortgage-net.com, you'll find topnotch instructions, worksheets and calculators for making basic financial projections, such as the payments you'll face on, say, a 30-year fixed loan vs. a five-year adjustable. You will also get answers to questions you probably haven't even thought of. Interest.com, for instance, offers advice on securing hard-to-find mortgages such as loans on vacant land or remote properties; mortgage-net.com lists the top 10 home-buying mistakes. (The No. 1 blooper, say the experts, is shopping for a home without a mortgage commitment from a lender. Reason: Not having one weakens your bargaining power.)

Finding the best interest rate. Once you've decided on the type of mortgage you want, a computer search can help you find the lender with the best interest rate. For the most comprehensive and timely data available online, visit www.hsh.com, sponsored by HSH Associates, the country's largest publisher of mortgage-rate information (and supplier of data for the Monitor tables). Once a week, HSH updates the rates offered by 2,500 lenders. Just click on the area where you plan to buy to find the rates and phone numbers of lenders who make loans there.

You can find similar information at www.bankrate.com, which is run by Bank Rate Monitor, a publisher of industry newsletters. One extra perk: By typing in your e-mail address, you can sign up for bankrate.com's alert system, which signals you by e-mail when the national average mortgage rate moves up or down by at least a tenth of a percentage point. That way, you can be prepared to lock in a mortgage if rates are moving up or postpone a commitment if rates are dropping.

If you don't have the time to rummage through a vast database, try getsmart.com, which has links to 20 lenders nationwide, or mortgage.quicken.com, which has six bank affiliates. Even with their relatively limited universe of lenders, these sites give you a broad sense of the range of available mortgage options.

Applying for a mortgage. Roughly 80% of the 2,000 lenders with Websites will prequalify you for a loan based on information you provide them over the Internet. But bear in mind that "pre-qualification" simply means the lender will do some quick calculations to estimate the size of the loan you're likely to qualify for. Don't confuse prequalification with "pre-approval," which typically constitutes a commitment from a lender to make you a loan.

In fact, although you can start your application process online, most lenders still will not transmit official mortgage documents electronically. Rather, they require a face-to-face visit before they'll grant you pre-approval. If that's not practical, many lenders will let you conduct the transaction over the phone and through the mail.

So going online won't get rid of the paperwork altogether. But that's just as well. If there was no loan document, you wouldn't have a mortgage to burn someday in the future when you finally pay it off.