Overview of the Loan Process

Mortgage Loan ProcessOne of the biggest and most exciting decisions we make in life is buying a home. If you’ve watched friends or family go through the process, or have been through the process before yourself, you may have the idea that arranging a mortgage for the home you want to purchase is a grueling, stressful task that’s nearly impossible to understand. We know that it doesn’t have to be that way. We’ve used our extensive knowledge and experience to create a predictable process that each one of our customers follows.

Our goal is to use our expertise to guide you through the home-buying process and ensure that it goes smoothly every step of the way. We want you to focus your energy on finding that dream home, one that will keep you and your family comfortable, secure and happy for years to come. In the meantime, we will focus our energies on getting you what you need to make that dream a reality.

To make sure you start off on the right foot on your path to home ownership, your loan officer first helps you estimate costs and determine the level of home payment that will work best for you. We then do the financial analysis that enables us to make a firm commitment to providing the funds you need. By guiding you through these steps early and ensuring that they are done right, we give you the information you need to make smart home-buying choices. You’ll have an edge over others who are shopping for a home because you’ll know which homes to focus on-and the sellers of those homes will know that you are a serious buyer, backed by a leading mortgage company. Let us help you take those first steps.

Contact us now and we’ll get started on your pre-qualification and pre-approval and you’ll be two big steps closer to move-in day.

Pre-Qualification

No matter which stage of the home-buying cycle you are in, it’s critical to know how much home you can buy so that your budget and lifestyle can easily accommodate your payments. We help take the guesswork out of home searching by quickly giving you a general idea of how much you can afford. We’re ready to pre-qualify you as soon as you contact us. We can then get to work on pre-approval.

Key elements:

  • Payment and cost estimate
  • Affordability estimate

Pre-Approval

In the pre-approval step, we analyze your financial situation and credit history so that we can give you a comfort letter. You can present our comfort letter to your Realtor or a home seller, which gives them the confidence that you have the resources to buy their home.

We know what you’re thinking: this means paperwork. We will ask you for additional information and documents later on in the loan process. After we send your loan application to our automated underwriting system and get approval, we simply provide you with a list of what we will need in order to finalize the financing of your home.

Contact us today to see for yourself just how quick and easy a pre-approval process can be. Before you know it, you’ll be completing the purchase and nearly ready to call the movers.

Key elements:

  • Complete debt-to-income analysis (affordability analysis)
  • Credit analysis
  • Loan program analysis (we tailor a loan package just right for you)
  • Payment and cost estimate
  • Legal disclosure (Good Faith Estimate/Truth-in-Lending)

Processing

If we are willing to invest in your future home or property, you know that it’s a great investment. To ensure that there will be no roadblocks, the property value is appraised, the property is checked to make sure it is not in a flood zone and the title is examined to make certain the title is free and clear of defects.

Upon receipt of the completed Purchase Agreement (including all addenda), these issues are examined. There are many different independent experts who need to perform specific tasks in this process and we work hard to coordinate all of these efforts so each one is done promptly and reliably. Your loan officer stays in close contact with you to ensure that nothing will stand in the way or delay that all-important closing date! Contact Us today and that closing date will be right on time.

Once we’ve guided you through the processing/verification step, we begin working with the underwriters.

Key elements:

  • Independent property appraisal
  • Independent title search
  • Independent flood-zone certification

Underwriting

After we receive all of your property appraisal information and other required documents, your loan officer arranges the materials in the required format, checks that everything is in place and submits the financing package to the underwriting group. Our in-house underwriters work hard to approve your loan in a timely manner.

Your loan officer works with the underwriting team to answer questions and to obtain from you any other information that may be needed. Your loan officer is your advocate and works hard to get you that final seal of approval. Once you have that, we start work on the pre-closing step.

Contact Us today to get our experienced underwriters and other team members working for you.

Key elements:

  • Document validation
  • Appraisal validation

Pre-Closing

No matter which stage of the home-buying cycle you are in, it’s critical to know how much home you can buy so that your budget and lifestyle can easily accommodate your payments. We help take the guesswork out of home searching by quickly giving you a general idea of how much you can afford. We’re ready to pre-qualify you as soon as you contact us. We can then get to work on pre-approval.

Key elements:

  • Payment and cost estimate
  • Affordability estimate

Closing

You’ll probably experience a mixture of feelings on closing day: excitement, stress and trepidation, plus relief and joy once it’s over. Fortunately, the closing process takes only about an hour. And because our team has prepared you so well, you’ll have everything you need and there won’t be any last-minute snags. (The only problem you may run into is the writer’s cramp you may experience as you sign your name a multitude of times.)

The closer will explain all the documents for your review and signature. Most final documents are boilerplates, except for your personal information. Here is a list of personal information that you should check for accuracy (let the closer know right away if there are errors):

  • Legal names
  • Social security numbers
  • Address of property
  • Loan amount
  • Interest rate
  • Term of loan (years)

Celebrate
Your loan officer will provide you with the closing advice our experienced team has learned over the years-for example, don’t show up late and if in doubt, bring it. Both the closer and your loan officer will also discuss mortgage payment servicing with you. We firmly believe that it’s better to be over- rather than under-prepared for such a life-changing event. Contact us soon so that we can start preparing you.

Key elements:

  • Meet the property sellers
  • Review and sign all final documents
  • Remit settlement fees
  • Transfer of Property Ownership (transfer of deed)

Servicing

Once the closing is behind you, there’s just one minor detail to take care of -your monthly mortgage payment. Your mortgage is a critical aspect of your credit history, and it’s imperative that your payment gets to the right place at the right time each and every month. A blemish on your mortgage payment history can mean problems for you when purchasing a future home or when arranging other types of financing. You will send your payments to a servicing company, and you will probably hear from them before your first payment is due. Rest assured that we work with only the most reputable and nationally-recognized servicing companies.

Key elements:

  • Temporary payment instructions (found in closing package) for first payment
  • Your servicing company will contact you in writing within 90 days
  • Direct future payments and inquiries to servicing company or your loan officer

As you get busy furnishing and arranging your new home, your future mortgage needs will probably be the furthest thing from your mind. But when you decide to invest in a piece of property, purchase a vacation home or move to a new home, make us the first place you call. As you move through various stages in your life cycle, our goal is to help meet your mortgage financing needs every step of the way.

Purchase Steps

Whether you’re buying your first home or moving up to a bigger one, the basic steps in the purchase process are the same. Our Purchase Service guides you through this process, ensuring that you are well-prepared and receiving great advice every step of the way.

After you are pre-approved, the fun begins: deciding which home is the perfect choice for you. Once you’ve found that home, all of the legalities and paperwork need to be taken care of-and handled correctly-so that your home purchase goes through without a hitch. To help you avoid the mistakes made by uninformed buyers, we assist in these steps by ensuring your Purchase Agreement contains the financing information that is required, advising on the negotiating process, locking in your mortgage rate and loan package, working with the underwriters to obtain final loan approval and preparing for your closing. With our expert assistance, you’ll be packing boxes before you know it.

Key elements:

  • Pre-approval letter
  • Home selection guidance (from mortgage standpoint)
  • Assistance with Purchase Agreement (from mortgage standpoint)
  • Property inspection selection
  • Mortgage interest rate/loan program selection (we tailor a loan package just right for you)
  • Mortgage processing/verification
  • Underwriting
  • Pre-closing
  • Closing

Refinance Steps

We are all inundated with home refinancing ads these days, whether from telemarketers, TV commercials or mass mailings. It’s hard to see past the hype and find out the advantages of each refinancing program you’re offered-and none of us has the time to sift through all of that information.

Unfortunately, this leads many people to stick with their current financing, when they could be reaping the rewards of lower payments, extra cash or a shorter mortgage term. Our Refinance Service is here to do all of this analysis work for you. Our knowledge and experience allow us to quickly match a refinancing plan to your needs and to ensure that you get the best terms available. Perhaps most importantly, we can help you answer everyone’s initial question: is refinancing worth it for me?

Key elements:

  • Loan program analysis (Your loan officer will custom tailor a loan program that works for you.)
  • Cost versus no-cost refinance (What is the break-even point?)
  • Term analysis (Should I consider going from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage?)
  • Cash-out analysis (Should I borrow more money than I currently owe?)
  • Accelerated payment analysis
  • Principal reduction analysis
  • Goals analysis (Will refinancing keep me on track with my long term goals?)