First Step - Application

Loan Application

Loan Consultation
This is one of the most important parts of the mortgage process. Your Loan Officer will talk with you about current market rates and the different loan programs to help familiarize you with what is available in the market.  You will not need to make any loan product decisions at this time.  You will be asked about information pertaining to your income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.  If you are purchasing a new home, you will need to determine the amount of down payment you will be making towards your new home.  Your Loan Officer will help you understand how your financial information along with your credit history is used in qualifying you for a mortgage loan.

Pre-Qualification
It's a good idea to know how expensive a home you can afford before you start shopping for one, and a pre-qualification from a lender can help. If you can provide a pre-qualification letter, sales agents and sellers will know that you are an able buyer and may take your offer more seriously. A pre-qualification letter may sway a home seller to negotiate with you as opposed to another buyer who is not pre-qualified. If you are refinancing the loan on your existing home, then the prequalification process should help you decide whether refinancing is a good idea for you.

Loan Application
See the application checklist to assist you.
The application is actually the beginning of the formal loan process and should occur prior to finding a property you want to buy or when you have determined that you wish to refinance the loan on your existing home. With the help of your Loan Officer, you complete a mortgage application for a particular loan program and supply all of the required documentation for processing. Your Loan Officer will discuss various fees, rate-lock and down payment options with you at this time, and the Loan Officer will deliver a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and an initial Truth-In-Lending Disclosure (TIL) that will contain an estimated annual percentage rate (APR) within three days of the date of your application that itemizes the rates and estimated costs for obtaining the loan. You may or may not lock the interest rate on your loan at this time.
 
The key form that you must complete is the loan application form itself (known as a ‘1003,’ from the Fannie Mae form number). The application identifies the property being financed, the borrowers, their employment information, their assets and liabilities, debt ratios, and other pertinent information that will support the decision on whether the borrower is financially able to maintain the payments. The property being financed is also being evaluated to see if it is adequate security for the loan. Clearly, it is vital that the loan application be complete and accurate. The next stages of the loan may go more quickly if there are no discrepancies or issues in the application. Your Loan Officer will order a credit report, which will show your payment history, credit limits, monthly payments, and current balances.
 
All lenders rely on credit information from national credit repositories obtained by ordering and reviewing a credit report for all the borrowers on the application. Lenders will compare the debt information on the application to the credit report and investigate and document discrepancies that are in the loan file.  Based on the information in the application, credit history (from the credit report) and other factors, your Loan Officer will evaluate all the available loan programs to determine the best product fit for you.