When you are ready to financially take on a home of your own and enjoy all the benefits of owning real estate and a piece of real property, in addition to talking with a real estate professional, the best place to start is with a mortgage lender. Your mortgage lender is going to be your professional guide through the application and qualification process down until you sign the paperwork for your new home purchase. Here are some tips to help you have a successful home purchase through the help of your mortgage professional.
Start the Loan Process Early
As soon as you realize it is time to begin looking forward to homeownership, you should get with a mortgage lender in your area. You can either talk to your local bank or credit union or look for a great professional recommendation with those you know around you in your circle of influence. Those you know can provide you great recommendations for an experienced lender who has access to a variety of lending programs. By starting early you can apply for your loan and get feedback on your credit and income and the lending potential they can help you with.
Your mortgage broker will have a look at your credit report and can advise you if you need to make any improvements to your credit to better your chances at a great loan for your personal and financial situation. This may be paying off some unsecured credit card debt or closing out some unused credit accounts. Or your lender can start your loan qualification process and start the underwriting portion of the loan. Once this process starts it is important to provide all the required documentation to your lender as quickly as possible. They will submit it to the underwriter who will process it for approval in your loan.
Get Pre-Qualified
Another important step in the approval process is getting your pre-approval status or pre-approval letter for your loan. This pre-approval status will tell you how much you have qualified to get for a home loan based on your credit and income. And it is this letter and status that you can provide to a home seller to show them you have started the loan application process and are verified to get funding.
If you were to not have a pre-approval letter when you make an offer on the home of your dreams, the seller may not know if your offer is solid. They may wonder if they accept your offer that during the loan processing you will back out of your contract because your lending is not able to be completed. However, this validates your credit and income and qualifies you to move forward with buying a home. Contact us to learn more about our loan programs.