10 Easy Steps to Getting a Mortgage

Find a mortgage professional you feel comfortable talking to about likely the largest investment of your life so far. If you don’t already know someone, ask your friends and family for referrals....  to professionals they have enjoyed dealing with or go online and read some reviews. Whichever way you go, do be confident with your choice and don’t be afraid to call a few professionals before you find one you look forward to working with.

The details in your application are going to be confirmed by the lender via supporting documentation so be as accurate as possible when it comes to income, assets, liabilities and monthly payment....  amounts. This along with a conversation with you the borrower will allow us to determine your financial profile so we can determine the best way to structure your mortgage submission for an approval.

Once we have discussed what kind of mortgage best suits your needs during the application period, we will then submit your application to a lender for a pre-approval. Whether it’s a verbal....  or a written rate-hold from a lender, a pre-approval will give you an idea of your maximum purchase price when you are shopping for a new home. Most rate-holds vary from 90- 120 days. Keep in mind, a pre-approval is just the lender giving you the okay based on what you have told them, the lender still has to review the property and supporting documentation before your mortgage is a sure thing.

Once you have an accepted offer, you can send that over to your mortgage professional along with a feature sheet that describes the property, who will....  then submit it to your mortgage lender for approval. They will be looking at the property details and your application as a whole and once they’ve made a decision, you will get a “conditional approval” or a decline. If you get an approval, you’re onto the next step.

Once your lender has approved your application you will get a mortgage commitment that will be reviewed with you. This very important document will contain details about your mortgage....  payment, your prepayment privileges, your payout penalty, as well as other legal jargon about your new mortgage. Be sure you understand it before you sign to accept and if there are some unfamiliar terms ask your mortgage professional about them.

Obtaining a mortgage approval is just the first step as it is still “conditional”. That means the lender has set out a series of documents you need to provide for review and acceptance by them. You will....  be asked to give them documents confirming your income, down payment funds and depending on the amount of your down payment, a property appraisal may be required in order to confirm the property’s value. The mortgage approval will clearly outline what documents you need to provide in order for your mortgage approval to become “unconditional”.