#9 Preliminary Review of Your Preps



          



It’s time to take all your prepared documentation in hand and submit it to your mortgage lending expert for preliminary review.   It is also time to understand that, from this point forward, trust and confidentiality could not be more important.

This is not the place in your process to go into a “fast forward” mode!  Instead, before you set that meeting appointment and head into that important preliminary review, you will want to do your own deliberative fact-check and make sure you have your documents in comprehensive and thorough order.   Take a bit more time to look over your credit related information for accuracy.  Go over those basic definitions of Income and Assets (as they relate to the context of a mortgage loan application), and be sure you have not overlooked something relevant.

Remember, all of your submitted information will be subject to verification by your mortgage loan officer.

Briefly, return to the beginning of your preps and start with the definitions and essential list that you and your mortgage loan expert developed and provided at the beginning of your association.   Reviewing yourself is a good drill, and can boost both the accuracy of the content you are about to provide, and your personal confidence.  

You are about to take a giant step forward towards your dream of home ownership – and that should be exciting – not scary!

Let’s pause here and, for a few moments, consider the negative effects stress, apprehension, and distraction can have as you approach this first very important examination.    Your application for a mortgage loan is a very large step toward possibly your most important transaction to date!    When all the facts and figures are gathered into organized, documentation form, it can sometimes feel overwhelming.   After all, in the day-to-day activities of normal life, we usually handle these important elements one at a time, when necessary and appropriate.   Seeing these facts of your life all together and neatly compressed into a file folder, ready to submit to “a stranger,” is huge!

Take a deep breath!  For the preliminary review of your prepared documents, your mortgage loan expert will examine all the data -- item by item, category by category.   Then, together, you will consider each factor, its importance, its appropriate place within “the package,” its accuracy and even whether (or not) it needs to be presented for the application.    When in doubt, make notes and ask your mortgage loan expert.

It is entirely possible that this preliminary review will result in a bit more homework.  As mentioned above, this isn’t the time to rush; it’s the time to be thorough!   So, be prepared to revisit some of your records.    Also, be prepared for “the Processor” to begin verifying all your information with the appropriate references.  And, your loan officer at this point begins to speculate as to which loan will best fit your circumstances and goals.

This part of the process can be a little daunting.  As a result of the “mortgage crisis” a few short years ago, many layers of fact-checking have been added to the mortgage process by regulators and by the national authorities who finance the majority of mortgage loans (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA and USDA).

Now we focus, concentrate and check every detail.   When you and your expert believe you have a clean, accurate and comprehensive file and profile, it’s time to move forward to the next set of eyes!    That’s right!   You’ve no doubt heard the expression “two heads are better than one?”   Well, in our mortgage loan application process, our documentation authorization involves several sets of eyes!  

And that’s our next conversation!



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