Title:
Getting A
Mortgage – From Beginning to End
Word Count:
558
Summary:
Purchasing a home
is incredibly exciting and stressful. Knowing as much as possible before you
purchase is the key to reducing stress.
Keywords:
mortgage, home
loans, application, apply, lender, mortgage, loan, real estate, buy
Article Body:
Purchasing a home
is incredibly exciting and stressful. Knowing as much as possible before you
purchase is the key to reducing stress.
Getting A Mortgage – From Beginning to End
The mortgage process can often be a confusing one. Most homebuyers are
interested in their dream home, not their lender. Throw in endless forms and
document requests, and the mortgage process can quickly become miserable. Here
is an overview of how it works, which will hopefully cut down on your
stress.
Searching for the best loan is the first step. The best loan for you is
entirely dependent upon your situation. A low interest rate may be a key for
one person, while a low down payment might be critical for another. Other
factors include your credit score, length of the loan and so on. I highly
recommend you don’t apply with the bank where you have a checking account. If
they know it is your first loan, you are going to get a poor deal. Shop around or
use a mortgage broker to do so.
Getting pre-approved is not a required step, but you should do it. This single
step will cut the stress factor of buying a home by at least half. Instead of
sweating your loan application during escrow, you can relax because you are
already approved. This free time gives you the opportunity to nag the seller
for breaks on the home purchase.
The next step is to file a mortgage application. Many people make the mistake
of providing the minimum amount of information possible. Don’t. If you have
credit problems or some other negative, the lender will find them. Provide as
much information as possible on your application.
Part and parcel with your application is supporting documentation. This is
where a mortgage broker can really help. A lender is not going to take you
application at face value. Unlike applying for a credit card, the lender wants
to see supporting documentation. You will commonly be asked to submit tax
returns, pay stubs, bank account statements, investment account statements and
so on. The lender will inevitably lose some of these and ask for them again.
Welcome to the mortgage loan process!
Appraisals, inspections and title searches will next be ordered on the
property. The lender wants to make sure the seller has the right to sell it,
the home is in good shape and it is worth enough to justify the loan. There
isn’t much you can do during this step, so relax.
At this point the loan is processed to get everything in shape for the
underwriter review. The underwriter is the “buck stops here” person for the
lender. The underwriter will approve or deny the loan. They may also ask for
additional information or offer adjusted terms. If this occurs, you can make
counter offers.
Assuming the loan is approved, commitment time is the next step. Yep, you will
sign the loan documents. This sounds simple, but many people can’t help but get
nervous about committing to the repayment of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Just do it!
Assuming everything is going well with the purchase, the next step is closing.
The lender will wire money to the title company, escrow will close and you are
the proud owner of a new home and hundreds of thousands in debt!