Mortgage Pre-Approval

How do I buy a house? You need help from a REALTOR® and a mortgage lender. These two people will guide you through the home-buying process with ease. Now that you and your real estate agent searching for your new home, you will get pre-approved for a home loan. Once pre-approved, you will have an exact idea of how much you can afford. Furthermore, you will gain an understanding of your monthly mortgage payment, taxes, and insurance costs. 

Have you purchased a home? Yes? No? Were you in a frustrating situation with your lender during closing? If not, unproductive mortgage lenders have the potential to ruin a transition. Rest-a-sure, this is not the case for us! We partner with our trusted lenders because we want you to own the home you want without unnecessary hiccups in the process. Our lenders have the same goal in mind that we do - find you the forever home.

Now you need to hire a mortgage lender.  We recommend interviewing mortgage lenders and getting loan estimates from each one. By doing this, you will have the opportunity to review and pick the mortgage lender that suits you.

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Paperwork You Will Need to Provide Lender

To start the process of getting pre-approved, the lender will request a number of documents that act as proof of income, assets, and debt which they will use to determine how much of a loan for which you qualify. The documents lenders will require can vary from lender to lender, however, here is a list of documents most lenders require:

  1. Past two months of pay stubs
  2. Past two years of IRS form w2
  3. Past two years of US Federal Tax Returns
  4. The two most recent months (or a quarterly statement) of any asset information listed on the application. Generally: checking, savings, 401k, mutual funds, individual stock accounts, IRA’s, etc.
  5. A completed application, which the lender will provide to you directly. 

Getting your pre-approval Letter

Generally, once you submit the above items to your lender you should receive a pre-approval letter within 2-3 business days. The lender may ask for additional documentation. They are not trying to be difficult by asking for additional documentation, rather, after the housing bubble burst, underwriters became much stricter regarding the loan approval process which now requires a lot more documentation today, compared to a decade ago.

In addition to the pre-approval letter, the lender will provide you with detailed information including the monthly mortgage payment and whether you will be required to pay Private Mortgage Insurance. The lender will also give you the option to include your property taxes and homeowners insurance into your monthly payment for your convenience. There are different schools of thought on whether it is wise to include the taxes and insurance in your monthly payment and it boils down to whether you like to be in control of every payment made from your checking account or whether you prefer the convenience of an automatic payment made on a monthly basis rather than lump sum payments made semi-annually. 

Once you feel comfortable with the mortgage process, please forward us your pre-approval letter and we'll include it with the offer you make on a home. Including it with an offer illustrates to the seller that you are a well-qualified buyer and may influence their decision to accept your offer over a competing offer without a pre-approval letter. 

Understand Your Closing Costs

Another benefit of starting the pre-approval process early in your home buying endeavor, you will have an opportunity to receive a detailed estimate of the closing costs that will be involved with the purchase. Understanding the closing cost fees is another very important step in the home buying process. Generally, closing costs typically range between 1.25%-3% of the purchase price, and they are not controlled by the lender. Your mortgage lender will provide you with more detailed estimates based on your exact pre-approval price. Remember, these closing costs are due at closing (except for the inspection fee which is due on the day the services occur) and are on top of your down payment. Therefore, if you’re buying a $250,000 property and putting down 20% towards the loan you’ll need to have $56,250 cash available at closing ($50,000 for your down payment and approximately $6,250 for the closing costs). 

If you would like us to answer any questions about the mortgage pre-approval process, please don't hesitate to call us at (208) 505-1301 or connecting with us via the form below.