Home Buyers
Few people can buy a home for cash. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), nearly nine out of 10 buyers finance their purchase, which means that virtually all buyers — especially first-time purchasers — required a loan. The real issue with real estate financing is not getting a loan (virtually anyone willing to pay lofty interest rates can find a mortgage). Instead, the idea is to get the loan that’s right for you — the mortgage with the lowest cost and best terms.
I always advise that my buyers start the mortgage process well before they start shopping for a home. By meeting with me and looking at your loan options, you will find which programs best meet your needs and how much you can afford. I also recommend getting preapproved for another reason: Purchase contracts often require buyers to apply for and secure financing within a given time period, in many cases, 14 to 21 days. By meeting with me in advance and getting preapproved, it won’t be necessary to quickly find a lender, check credit, and rush into a financing decision that may not be the best option once you are already in contract.
What does it mean to get preapproved?
“Pre-approval” means you have met with a loan officer, your credit has been run and reviewed, as well as your income and assets and the loan officer believes you can qualify for a given loan amount. Based on this information, I will provide a pre approval letter, which shows your borrowing power.
Although not a final loan commitment, the pre approval letter will be used when you and your realtor start presenting offers on homes. It demonstrates your financial strength and shows that you have the ability to go through with a purchase. This information is important to owners since they do not want to accept an offer that is likely to fail because financing cannot be obtained. Furthermore, I always like to work with your realtor as a team and will call the listing agent and further reinforce your financial strength with a conversation backing up the preapproval letter.
How do I get pre-approved?
The preapproval process is not complicated, but you may find it somewhat tedious yet enlightening. It will involve gathering all of your financial documents and then having me summarize them all on a loan application, before submitting the file for approval to a lender. The list of documents that I will be asking for you for are as follows:
- Two most recent paycheck stubs & last 2 year’s W-2’s for salaried employees.
- Two most recent years’ complete tax returns for self-employed individuals.
- Last 2 months account statements for all checking, savings, investment and retirement accounts.
- Copies of your Drivers License and Social Security Card
Additionally, the first step in the preapproval process is completing a loan application so that I can run your credit. You can start the process by applying here. Simply press the button below and you will be redirected to my secure, online application. After completing and submitting it, I will be in touch with you within’ hours.