Step 1
Pre-Approval
Before you start hunting for a home, it's smart to get pre-qualified for a loan. This means filling out some forms and a mortgage application, which includes a credit check, and it won't cost you a dime. Once you're pre-qualified, you'll get a loan worksheet that gives you an idea of how much you could potentially borrow, as well as the fees, interest rate, estimated monthly payment, and funds needed to close. It's a really important step in the home buying process because it helps you kick off your home search within your budget.
Step 2
Search for Your Home
In this step, we'll update some worksheets to give you an idea of the financial side of things based on the homes you're checking out, including the actual tax numbers. Once that's done, you'll get personalized loan qualification letters for the loan amount you're eyeing based on the price you're planning to offer for the home, not just the listed price. Having this letter attached with your offer can boost your chances of snagging the home, as some selling agents ask for it when offers are submitted.
Step 3
Submit Your Contract
Once your new place is all set and the paperwork is done, the title company (they basically gather all the paperwork from the buyer’s and seller's agents) will send out the finalized contract. When Acceptance gets the paperwork, the loan switches from a pre-qualification to a loan application automatically (not a signature thing, just a disclosure thing), and then Acceptance has three days to send out all the loan application paperwork, forms, and loan estimate (LE).
Step 4
Processing and Underwriting
Once you've signed your mortgage application, we'll get the ball rolling. We'll need to check your income, assets, and work history, and also sort out the title and appraisal. You'll also need to pick out a home insurance policy. We'll lock in the interest rate and loan program for the time it takes to close. Once all that's done, we'll submit the loan for approval. The underwriter will then go through everything to make sure it's all good. Once the appraisal, title, and documents are in and looking good, the underwriter will give the final approval with no extra conditions - that's the Clear to Close.
Step 5
Clear To Close!
The lawyers will put together a Closing Disclosure, and everyone will pick a date and time to seal the deal. The closing date is set in the contract, so our job as the lender is to have all the paperwork ready in time. We usually send the Closing Disclosure (CD) to the buyer and title company, and typically we wrap things up on the 3rd day after sending the CD.