Obtaining Your Mortgage Pre-Approval
The most important aspect of the mortgage process is determining how much home you can afford to purchase. This will be the driving force of your home search. Be prepared to provide a detailed summary of your economic life for the past 2 years.
Once in contact with your mortgage consultant, she will ask you for some basic information to complete the loan application. This will include questions about your employment and residency for the past 2 years, and your current income and assets. If you are purchasing a home, she will need to know the amount of your down payment.
Your mortgage consultant will then pull a tri-merge credit report that will reveal your 3 credit scores from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. She will use your middle credit score to qualify you for specific loan programs and determine your interest rate. In this current mortgage market: the lower your credit score, the greater the potential you’ll receive a higher interest rate. Credit scores range from 300 to 850, with the best rates given to scores above 740.
The mortgage consultant will run your credit, income, and asset information through an automated underwriting process. The automated underwriting process will produce a general loan approval or a loan decline based on the information provided at that time. The loan approval will be subject to specifics such as appraisal of property, title search, change or loss of employment or assets, and verification of funds for down payment.
This process will help you establish the price range of homes that you will be comfortable shopping in. It is helpful to be completely informed of your mortgage choices from the beginning, so that there are no surprises down the road.
If you’d like to find out what your borrowing power is for a new home, please contact me at bahale1@gmail.com or call (513) 520-6044.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Further FHA Loan Scrutiny On The Horizon
I woke up to the news that the White House will be looking into the lending practices of some FHA lenders. Look for even tighter guidelines down the road!
There was a lot of confusion this summer when major wholesale FHA lender, Taylor Bean Whitaker (which is mentioned in the link), filed bankruptcy and left many of their home loan clients' mortgage payments missing in limbo for months. If you were affected by that situation, or if you have any questions, please contact me at bahale1@gmail.com or (513) 520-6044. I'd love to hear your comments and feedback!
There was a lot of confusion this summer when major wholesale FHA lender, Taylor Bean Whitaker (which is mentioned in the link), filed bankruptcy and left many of their home loan clients' mortgage payments missing in limbo for months. If you were affected by that situation, or if you have any questions, please contact me at bahale1@gmail.com or (513) 520-6044. I'd love to hear your comments and feedback!
Monday, January 11, 2010
What To Expect When Applying For A Mortgage Part 2
Locate Your Relevant Documentation
Being prepared for your conversation with your mortgage consultant is crucial to getting the most out of your experience. Before contacting your mortgage consultant, gather the following documentation:
• 30 days of recent pay stubs
• 2 years of recent W-2s
• 2 months bank statements, checking and savings
• 401K/IRA statements
• Bankruptcy filing and discharge, if applicable
• Divorce decree/separation agreement, if applicable
You may need additional documentation, especially if you are a first-time homebuyer, self-employed, or a veteran applying for a VA loan. Your mortgage consultant will advise you specifically in those cases.
Some of these items you may not have readily available, so you may have to contact previous employers, banks and others to obtain this information. This may take additional time. Also, some banks charge for reprints of bank statements.
Just remember that you will need to keep track of any new pay stubs, bank statements and anything else your mortgage consultant asks for during the loan process, so don’t throw anything away – and stay away from the shredder!
If you would like a more detailed list of documentation that is specific to your situation, please contact me at bahale1@gmail.com or (513) 520-6044.
Being prepared for your conversation with your mortgage consultant is crucial to getting the most out of your experience. Before contacting your mortgage consultant, gather the following documentation:
• 30 days of recent pay stubs
• 2 years of recent W-2s
• 2 months bank statements, checking and savings
• 401K/IRA statements
• Bankruptcy filing and discharge, if applicable
• Divorce decree/separation agreement, if applicable
You may need additional documentation, especially if you are a first-time homebuyer, self-employed, or a veteran applying for a VA loan. Your mortgage consultant will advise you specifically in those cases.
Some of these items you may not have readily available, so you may have to contact previous employers, banks and others to obtain this information. This may take additional time. Also, some banks charge for reprints of bank statements.
Just remember that you will need to keep track of any new pay stubs, bank statements and anything else your mortgage consultant asks for during the loan process, so don’t throw anything away – and stay away from the shredder!
If you would like a more detailed list of documentation that is specific to your situation, please contact me at bahale1@gmail.com or (513) 520-6044.
Monday, January 4, 2010
What To Expect When Applying For A Mortgage Part 1
Happy New Year to All! I'm glad to see the holiday season behind us, and I'm ready to plunge right into 2010!
Here is my first installment of a four part series -
What To Expect When Applying For A Mortgage Loan
Part 1 – Check Out Your Credit
When you’re ready to take the plunge into the mortgage arena, whether you’re purchasing a new home or refinancing your current home, you may be surprised at how the process works. It is very important to put your personal financial picture in the best possible light, so that you can qualify for the most available loans programs and preferred interest rates. It helps to be prepared before you make the call to your mortgage consultant.
A good rule of thumb is to annually review your credit report with the 3 credit agencies: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. You can do this easily by accessing www.annualcreditreport.com. You can review all three credit bureaus through this one website. It’s free and available to you every 12 months, so take advantage. When accessing the website, make sure you have plenty of time and paper (and ink!) in your printer, to print out your reports. Also, be aware that the website will initially question you about specific creditors that you have used or previous address information to prove your identity before it will let you gain access to your information. This can catch you off-guard if you don’t have a good memory or the proper information in front of you.
Once you receive your credit information, review thoroughly, and if appropriate, dispute derogatory items immediately. It can take up to 30 days for a dispute to be corrected. It most likely will take over 60 to 90 days to impact your credit score once the derogatory item is corrected or removed, so make sure to follow up diligently on any disputes.
Keeping your credit in good health is critical and will ensure you the best loan programs and rates. If you need more information on credit scoring, disputing credit, or would like to review sample dispute letters, please contact me at bhale@cinci.rr.com or (513) 520-6044.
Look for the second installment of this three part series in the upcoming days!
Here is my first installment of a four part series -
What To Expect When Applying For A Mortgage Loan
Part 1 – Check Out Your Credit
When you’re ready to take the plunge into the mortgage arena, whether you’re purchasing a new home or refinancing your current home, you may be surprised at how the process works. It is very important to put your personal financial picture in the best possible light, so that you can qualify for the most available loans programs and preferred interest rates. It helps to be prepared before you make the call to your mortgage consultant.
A good rule of thumb is to annually review your credit report with the 3 credit agencies: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. You can do this easily by accessing www.annualcreditreport.com. You can review all three credit bureaus through this one website. It’s free and available to you every 12 months, so take advantage. When accessing the website, make sure you have plenty of time and paper (and ink!) in your printer, to print out your reports. Also, be aware that the website will initially question you about specific creditors that you have used or previous address information to prove your identity before it will let you gain access to your information. This can catch you off-guard if you don’t have a good memory or the proper information in front of you.
Once you receive your credit information, review thoroughly, and if appropriate, dispute derogatory items immediately. It can take up to 30 days for a dispute to be corrected. It most likely will take over 60 to 90 days to impact your credit score once the derogatory item is corrected or removed, so make sure to follow up diligently on any disputes.
Keeping your credit in good health is critical and will ensure you the best loan programs and rates. If you need more information on credit scoring, disputing credit, or would like to review sample dispute letters, please contact me at bhale@cinci.rr.com or (513) 520-6044.
Look for the second installment of this three part series in the upcoming days!
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