The Loan Process

Prequalification

Prequalification occurs before the loan process actually begins. Here's where we gather information about your income and debts, and make a financial determination about how much house you may be able to afford.

It's a good idea to know how expensive a home you can afford before you start shopping for one! If you are refinancing the loan on your existing home, then the prequalification process should help you decide whether refinancing is a good idea for you.

Application

The loan application, called the 1003 form is the beginning of the loan process and we recommend you apply before you begin searching for a property you want to buy in order to find out if you would even qualify for a loan so you don't waste either your time or the seller's. You complete a mortgage application for a particular loan program and supply all of the required documentation for processing. Various fees and down payment options are discussed at this time. One of our loan officers will deliver a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and a Truth-In-Lending Disclosure (TIL) within three days that itemize the rates and estimated costs for obtaining the loan.

Processing of your Estimated Loan

We will typically submit the application package to an automated underwriting system that will provide us with the necessary documentation needed for loan approval. In some cases, we may also manually underwrite an application package.

Our loan processor reviews the credit reports and documentation to verify your employment, debts, and payment histories. If there are unacceptable late payments, collections, judgments, etc., the processor requests a written explanation from you. The processor also reviews the appraisal and survey and checks for property issues that may affect final loan approval. The processor's job is to put together an entire application package for the lender's underwriter.

Underwriting

The underwriter is responsible for determining whether the application package prepared by the processor meets all the criteria. If more information is needed, the loan is put into "suspense" and you will be contacted to supply more documentation.

When the underwriter approves the loan, we issue a conditional commitment to lend, order title insurance, work with you to clear all conditions to its commitment to lend, and then schedule a closing time. Conditions to our commitment may include issues with credit, income, or the property that may arise during the processing and underwriting process.

Closing

The closing will occur after all conditions are cleared and we have issued a full loan approval. At the closing, we will "fund" the loan with a wire transfer to the closing agent, who disburses funds, in exchange for the title transfer to the property. At this is the point the loan process is complete. Apply now