| Will
the inquiry about my credit affect my credit score? |
| What
is a credit score and how will my credit score affect my
application? |
| Will
my overtime, commission, or bonus income be considered when
evaluating my application? |
| I
was in school before obtaining my current job. How do I
complete the application? |
| Are
we right for you? |
| What
can you expect when you apply for a mortgage? |
| Will
I be charged any fees if I authorize my credit information to
be accessed? |
| I'm
self-employed. How will you verify my income? |
| I
am selling my current home to purchase this home. What type of
documentation will be required? |
| I
am retired and my income is from pension or social security.
What will I need to provide? |
| If
my property's appraised value is more than the purchase price
can I use the difference towards my down payment? |
| How
will rental income be verified? |
| I
have income from dividends and/or interest. What documents
will I need to provide? |
| Do
I have to provide information about my child support, alimony
or separate maintenance income? |
| Will
my second job income be considered? |
| I
am relocating because I have accepted a new job that I haven't
started yet. How should I complete the application? |
| I've
had a few employers in the last few years. Will that affect my
ability to get a new mortgage? |
| I
have student loans that aren't in repayment yet. Should I show
them as installment debts? |
| If
I have income that's not reported on my tax return, can it be
considered? |
| I'm
getting a gift from someone else. Is this an acceptable source
of my down payment? |
| I've
co-signed a loan for another person. Should I include that
debt here? |
| Can
I really borrow funds to use towards my down payment?
|
| Can
I apply for a loan before I find a property to purchase?
|
| How
do you decide what you need from me to process my loan?
|
| How
will a past bankruptcy or foreclosure affect my ability to
obtain a new mortgage? |
| What,
exactly, is an installment debt? |
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Will the inquiry about
my credit affect my credit score? |
top |
An abundance of credit inquiries can
sometimes affect your credit scores since it may indicate that
your use of credit is increasing.
But don't overreact!
The data used to calculate your credit score doesn't include
any mortgage or auto loan credit inquiries that are made
within the 30 days prior to the score being calculated. In
addition, all mortgage inquiries made in any 14-day period are
always considered one inquiry. Don't limit your mortgage
shopping for fear of the effect on your credit score.
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| What is a credit score
and how will my credit score affect my application? |
top |
A credit score is one of the pieces of
information that we'll use to evaluate your application.
Financial institutions have been using credit scores to
evaluate credit card and auto applications for many years, but
only recently have mortgage lenders begun to use credit
scoring to assist with their loan decisions.
Credit
scores are based on information collected by credit bureaus
and information reported each month by your creditors about
the balances you owe and the timing of your payments. A credit
score is a compilation of all this information converted into
a number that helps a lender to determine the likelihood that
you will repay the loan on schedule. The credit score is
calculated by the credit bureau, not by the lender. Credit
scores are calculated by comparing your credit history with
millions of other consumers. They have proven to be a very
effective way of determining credit worthiness.
Some of
the things that affect your credit score include your payment
history, your outstanding obligations, the length of time you
have had outstanding credit, the types of credit you use, and
the number of inquiries that have been made about your credit
history in the recent past.
Credit scores used for
mortgage loan decisions range from approximately 300 to 900.
Generally, the higher your credit score, the lower the risk
that your payments won't be paid as agreed.
Using
credit scores to evaluate your credit history allows us to
quickly and objectively evaluate your credit history when
reviewing your loan application. However, there are many other
factors when making a loan decision and we never evaluate an
application without looking at the total financial picture of
a customer. |
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| Will my overtime,
commission, or bonus income be considered when evaluating my
application? |
top |
In order for bonus, overtime, or
commission income to be considered, you must have a history of
receiving it and it must be likely to continue. We'll usually
need to obtain copies of W-2 statements for the previous two
years and a recent pay stub to verify this type of income. If
a major part of your income is commission earnings, we may
need to obtain copies of recent tax returns to verify the
amount of business-related expenses, if any. We'll average the
amounts you have received over the past two years to calculate
the amount that can be considered as a regular part of your
income.
If you haven't been receiving bonus, overtime,
or commission income for at least one year, it probably can't
be given full value when your loan is reviewed for approval. |
|
| I was in school before
obtaining my current job. How do I complete the application?
|
top |
| If you were in school before your current
job, enter the name of the school you attended and the length
of time you were in school in the "length of employment"
fields. You can enter a position of "student" and income of
"0." |
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| Are we right for you?
|
top |
|
We are a mortgage bank offering instant approvals on-line
and some of the lowest rates and fees available on the web!
Whether you're purchasing or refinancing, we're certain you'll
find our service amazing!
If you'll be purchasing but haven't found the perfect home
yet, complete our application and we'll issue an approval for
a mortgage loan now with no obligation! |
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| What can you expect
when you apply for a mortgage? |
top |
|
First, you'll complete our on-line application.
The application will ask you questions about the home and
your finances and takes less than 20 minutes to complete. As
soon as you've finished the application we'll review your
request for instant approval. If your application is approved
on-line, we'll ask you for a deposit to cover the cost of the
appraisal on your home so that we can begin to process your
request immediately. This deposit will be credited towards
your closing fees at closing.
After completing your application, a Loan Officer will
contact you to introduce themselves and to answer any
questions you may have. Your Loan Officer is a mortgage expert
and will provide help and guidance along the way. If your
request wasn't approved on-line, they'll ask you for any
information required to make a decision about your loan.
If you are purchasing a new home, the Loan Officer will
also contact the Real Estate Broker or the seller so that
they'll know who to contact with questions.
We'll send you an application package and prepare your
loan for closing.
The application package will be sent to you and will
contain papers for you to sign and a list of items we'll need
to verify the information you provided about your finances
during the on-line application
We'll order the appraisal from a licensed appraiser who is
familiar with home values in your area. Depending on your
finances and the loan amount requested, different types of
appraisals are used. Sometimes the appraiser will need to view
the home. Sometimes they are able to do their evaluation from
the street.
Title insurance will be necessary. If you're purchasing a
home we'll work with the real estate broker or seller to
ensure the title work is ordered as soon as possible. If you
are refinancing we'll take care of ordering the title work for
you. We'll use the title insurance property to confirm the
legal status of your property and to prepare the closing
documents.
Your Loan Officer will keep you informed every step of the
way.
We'll contact you to coordinate your closing
date.
After we received the application package back from you and
the appraisal and title work, we'll contact you to schedule
your loan closing. If you are purchasing a home, we'll also
schedule the closing with the real estate broker and the
seller.
The closing will take place at the office of a title
company in your area who will act as our agent. A few days
before closing your Loan Officer will contact you to walk
through the final information so that there won't be any
surprises at closing.
That's all there is to it! You're on your way to the most
convenient home loan ever! |
|
| Will I be charged any
fees if I authorize my credit information to be accessed?
|
top |
| There is an application fee of $25.00
which we collect at the submission of your on-line
application. This fee helps us offset the cost of credit
reports assessed by the credit bureaus. This fee will be
credited to you at closing. If you do not close your loan with
us this fee will be charged. |
|
| I'm self-employed. How
will you verify my income? |
top |
Generally, the income of self-employed
borrowers is verified by obtaining copies of personal (and
business, if applicable) federal tax returns for the most
recent two-year period. However, based on your entire
financial situation, we may not need full copies of your tax
returns.
We'll review and average the net income from
self-employment that's reported on your tax returns to
determine the income that can be used to qualify. We won't be
able to consider any income that hasn't been reported as such
on your tax returns. Typically, we'll need at least one, and
sometimes a full two-year history of self-employment to verify
that your self-employment income is stable. |
|
| I am selling my current
home to purchase this home. What type of documentation will be
required? |
top |
| If you're selling your current home to
purchase your new home, we'll ask you to provide a copy of the
settlement or closing statement you'll receive at the closing
to verify that your current mortgage has been paid in full and
that you'll have sufficient funds for our closing. Often the
closing of your current home is scheduled for the same day as
the closing of your new home. If that's the case, we'll just
ask you to bring your settlement statement with you to your
new mortgage closing. |
|
| I am retired and my
income is from pension or social security. What will I need to
provide? |
top |
We will ask for copies of your recent
pension check stubs, or bank statement if your pension or
retirement income is deposited directly in your bank account.
Sometimes it will also be necessary to verify that this income
will continue for at least three years since some pension or
retirement plans do not provide income for life. This can
usually be verified with a copy of your award letter. If you
don't have an award letter, we can contact the source of this
income directly for verification.
If you're receiving
tax-free income, such as social security earnings in some
cases, we'll consider the fact that taxes will not be deducted
from this income when reviewing your request. |
|
| If my property's
appraised value is more than the purchase price can I use the
difference towards my down payment? |
top |
Unfortunately, if you are purchasing a
home, we'll have to use the lower of the appraised value or
the sales price to determine your down payment requirement.
It's still a great benefit for your financial
situation if you are able to purchase a home for less than the
appraised value, but our investors don't allow us to use this
"instant equity" when making our loan decision. |
|
| How will rental
income be verified? |
top |
If you own rental properties, we'll
generally ask for the most recent year's federal tax return to
verify your rental income. We'll review the Schedule E of the
tax return to verify your rental income, after all expenses
except depreciation. Since depreciation is only a paper loss,
it won't be counted against your rental income.
If you
haven't owned the rental property for a complete tax year,
we'll ask for a copy of any leases you've executed and we'll
estimate the expenses of ownership. |
|
| I have income from
dividends and/or interest. What documents will I need to
provide? |
top |
|
Generally, two years personal tax returns are required to
verify the amount of your dividend and/or interest income so
that an average of the amounts you receive can be calculated.
In addition, we will need to verify your ownership of the
assets that generate the income using copies of statements
from your financial institution, brokerage statements, stock
certificates or Promissory Notes.
Typically, income from dividends and/or interest must be
expected to continue for at least three years to be considered
for repayment. |
|
| Do I have to provide
information about my child support, alimony or separate
maintenance income? |
top |
| Information about child support, alimony,
or separate maintenance income does not need to be provided
unless you wish to have it considered for repaying this
mortgage loan. |
|
| Will my second job
income be considered? |
top |
| Typically, income from a second job will
be considered if a one-year history of secondary employment
can be verified. |
|
| I am relocating because
I have accepted a new job that I haven't started yet. How
should I complete the application? |
top |
Congratulations on your new job! If you
will be working for the same employer, complete the
application as such but enter the income you anticipate you'll
be receiving at your new location.
If your employment
is with a new employer, complete the application as if this
were your current employer and indicate that you have been
there for one month. The information about the employment
you'll be leaving should be entered as a previous employer.
We'll sort out the details after you submit your loan for
approval. |
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| I've had a few
employers in the last few years. Will that affect my ability
to get a new mortgage? |
top |
Having changed employers frequently is
typically not a hindrance to obtaining a new mortgage loan.
This is particularly true if you made employment changes
without having periods of time in between without employment.
We'll also look at your income advancements as you have
changed employment.
If you're paid on a commission
basis, a recent job change may be an issue since we'll have a
difficult time of predicting your earnings without a history
with your new employer. |
|
| I have student loans
that aren't in repayment yet. Should I show them as
installment debts? |
top |
Any student loan that will go into
repayment within the next six months should be included in the
application. If you are not sure exactly what the monthly
payment will be at this time, enter an estimated
amount.
If other student loans are reflected on your
final credit report, which will not go into repayment in the
next six months, we may need to ask you for verification that
repayment will not be required during this time period. |
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| If I have income that's
not reported on my tax return, can it be considered?
|
top |
|
Generally, only income that is reported on your tax return
can be considered when applying for a mortgage unless, of
course, the income is legally tax-free and isn't required to
be reported.
We do not offer stated income programs on-line at this
time. If you are interested in this type of loan, contact your
Loan Officer. |
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| I'm getting a gift from
someone else. Is this an acceptable source of my down payment?
|
top |
Gifts are an acceptable source of down
payment, if the gift giver is related to you or your
co-borrower. We'll ask you for the name, address, and phone
number of the gift giver, as well as the donor's relationship
to you.
If your loan request is for more than 80% of
the purchase price, we'll need to verify that you have at
least 5% of the property's value in your own
assets.
Prior to closing, we'll verify that the gift
funds have been transferred to you by obtaining a copy of your
bank receipt or deposit slip to verify that you have deposited
the gift funds into your account. |
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| I've co-signed a loan
for another person. Should I include that debt here?
|
top |
| Generally, a co-signed debt is considered
when determining your qualifications for a mortgage. If the
co-signed debt doesn't affect your ability to obtain a new
mortgage we'll leave it at that. However, if it does make a
difference, we can ignore the monthly payment of the co-signed
debt if you can provide verification that the other person
responsible for the debt has made the required payments, by
obtaining copies of their cancelled checks for the last six
months. |
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| Can I really borrow
funds to use towards my down payment? |
top |
| Yes, you can borrow funds to use as your
down payment! However, any loans that you take out must be
secured by an asset that you own. If you own something of
value that you could borrow funds against such as a car or
another home, it's a perfectly acceptable source of funds. If
you are planning on obtaining a loan, make sure to include the
details of this loan in the Expenses section of the
application. |
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| Can I apply for a loan
before I find a property to purchase? |
top |
|
Yes, applying for a mortgage loan before you find a home
may be the best thing you could do! If you apply for your
mortgage now, we'll issue an approval subject to you finding
the perfect home. We'll issue a pre-approval letter on-line
instantly. You can use the pre-approval letter to assure real
estate brokers and sellers that you are a qualified buyer.
Having a pre-approval for a mortgage may give more weight to
any offer to purchase that you make.
When you find the perfect home, you'll simply call your
Loan Officer to complete your application. You'll have an
opportunity to lock in our great rates and then we'll complete
the processing of your request. |
|
| How do you decide what
you need from me to process my loan? |
top |
| We take full advantage of an automated
underwriting system that allows us to request as little
information as possible to verify the data you provided during
your loan application. Gone are the days when it was necessary
to verify every piece of data collected during the
application. The automated underwriting system compares your
financial situation with statistical data from millions of
other homeowners and uses that comparison to determine the
level of verification needed. In many cases, a single W-2 or
pay stub can be used to verify your income or a single bank
statement can be used to verify the assets needed to close
your loan. |
|
| How will a past
bankruptcy or foreclosure affect my ability to obtain a new
mortgage? |
top |
| If you've had a bankruptcy or foreclosure
in the past, it may affect your ability to get a new mortgage.
Unless the bankruptcy or foreclosure was caused by situations
beyond your control, we will generally require that two to
four years have passed since the bankruptcy or foreclosure. It
is also important that you've re-established an acceptable
credit history with new loans or credit cards. |
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| What, exactly, is an
installment debt? |
top |
| An installment debt is a loan that you
make payments on, such as an auto loan, a student loan or a
debt consolidation loan. Do not include payments on other
living expenses, such as insurance costs or medical bill
payments. We'll include any installment debts that have more
than 10 months remaining when determining your qualifications
for this
mortgage. |
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