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Approval Process

Pre-Qualification/Review

Pre-qualification starts the loan process. Once we have reviewed your application and obtained a tri-merge credit, and outlined your acceptable income sources, verifiable assets and ongoing monthly debt items, a prompt determination can usually be made regarding how much you are eligible to borrow. Not all lenders (aka: investors) have the same qualifying criteria, so please don't assume what someone else may have told you is what all lenders will say.

It's important to remember that although every loan program has specific guidelines, exceptions are made from time to time. Every applicant and each property is unique, so if you come up a little short in one area, another strong point of qualification might make up for it. Lenders can't stay in business in the long-term if they declined every loan application, so it's in their best interest to work with me to help find a loan program that will meet your present mortgage objectives.

Mortgage Rates/Programs

To properly analyze the advantages of a certain loan product, you need to think about how long you plan to keep the home and/or the loan. If you plan to sell the house in 3-5 years, a fixed/adjustable rate (aka: a hybrid arm) loan may make the most sense. However, if you plan to keep the house for 7-10 years or more a long-term fixed rate loan may be better.

Since there are several loan options, the selection process can be frustrating and time consuming. An experienced mortgage professional like myself can typically evaluate your situation fairly quickly and recommend the most suitable mortgage loan programs, thus allowing you to make an informed decision more rapidly.

Complete Application

Our receipt of a signed Uniform Residential Loan Application typically marks the official beginning of the official loan process. This usually occurs within a few days of receiving an accepted offer on a new home. With the tools offered to you on this website and access to your files at home, it only takes 15-20 minutes to provide us with a preliminary application/credit authorization. We will contact you by phone to complete the application and review the list of required supporting income/asset documentation.

Of course, our fees and various other third party charges will be disclosed to you within 3 days of our receipt of your signed loan application on the newly redesigned industry standard Good Faith Estimate (GFE). In addition, the APR and any applicable Prepayment Penalty information will be disclosed on the Truth-In-Lending Statement (TIL). The latter can be confusing to some borrowers, so please call me to discuss it if you don't understand something.

Supporting Documents

If you are an employee and prefer a full doc loan program in order to get the best overall rate and terms, you will need to provide your last two paystubs and previous two W-2s. If you are self-employed, you may need to provide us with a copy of your past two Federal 1040s. If you own rental property, you may also need to provide us with a copy of a lease(s).

To help expedite the approval process, you should also provide us with a copy of your last 2 bank and/or brokerage account statements. For reserve purposes, it is also helpful to have a copy of the most recent statement on any IRAs, 401Ks, or other retirement funds that you might have. Proof of other cash assets would be helpful as well.

If you are requesting a refinance of an existing loan, please provide us with a copy of your Homeowner's Insurance coverage and/or agent's name and contact info. If purchasing a new home, please contact your agent immediately upon zeroing in on a property to make sure it's eligible for coverage and to ascertain an estimated annual premium.

If recently divorced, please provide us with a copy of the final divorce decree. If you are not a US citizen, please provide a copy of your alien registration papers (aka: green card). If you are NOT a permanent resident alien, please provide us with a copy of your H-1 or L-1 Visa. If neither or these pertain to you, we will do our best to meet your needs.

If you are simply applying for a Home Equity Loan, you will need to provide us with a copy of your most recent mortgage statement and a copy of the underlying Note. The latter is typically found in your previous loan closing documents file.

Processing/Set-Up

Once the application has been submitted, the processing phase begins. The loan processor reviews the credit report, completed loan application, orders the appraisal and requests the corresponding escrow/title information.

Certain information on your application (employment, bank accounts and current debts) may also be directly verified by the processor. In addition, any credit derogatories (late payments, collection accounts and/or judgments) may require additional information and/or written explanation from you. If so, we will advise you immediately in a confidential manner.

Once these items are received, the processor examines the appraisal and title report to check for any issues that may require further investigation, etc. A complete loan submission file is then assembled for submission to the underwriter.

Underwriting/Approval

Once the processor has submitted a complete file to the underwriter (who usually works for the lender), he/she will attempt to determine whether our request meets their requirements, etc. If the loan is acceptable as submitted, the loan is approved and you will be notified by us. If not, and our request is suspended for more information, we will contact you to obtain the additional documentation. Worst-case, if our request is denied I will contact you to discuss possible alternatives.

Closing & Funding

Once the loan is approved, the file is transferred to the closer to prepare the loan closing docs. The closer reviews the entire loan file for accuracy and contacts the processor and/or loan officer if she has any questions or concerns. Otherwise, they will send the docs to the escrow officer who in turn contacts the borrower(s) to schedule a time for them to come their office to sign the loan documents, etc. At time of signing you should:

Bring a cashier's check or arrange a wire transfer for the amount of $ needed to close. Personal checks for more than $200 are not acceptable and may delay the process until your check clears the bank.
Review the final loan documents. Make sure that the interest rate, loan amount and terms are what we agreed upon. Please also take a moment to confirm that your name and address are accurate.
Sign the loan documents as typed and bring a photo ID for notarization purposes.

Once the documents are signed, the escrow officer returns the package along with a funding request to the closer who reviews everything (again) and schedules the funding. Once the wire has been processed by our funder and confirmed received by the escrow officer, the recording package is sent and a Final HUD-1 Settlement Statement is issued to all direct parties to the transaction. Typically, all funds are disbursed within 24 hours.

Post-Closing

Once the loan has closed and we have updated our funding report, we will send you a letter containing a summary of the key components relating to your new loan, (ie: loan amount, interest rate, payment, due date, etc). If you need further information, please refer to the copy of the closing documents your received from the title company at closing.

Otherwise, simply give me a call and I will look in our file for the info you need. Your future business and referrals are very important to me, so please think about who else you know that may benefit from our services at this time. Thank you!