Navigating the Mortgage Maze

You have been carefully and methodically researching, preparing and submitting the documentation essential for your application for your home loan. It’s all been submitted, examined down to microscopic detail and – finally – approved! Meanwhile, the 1.a., 1.b. considerations about a specific house have been temporarily moved a bit down on the priority list. Out of focus, maybe; but definitely not out of mind! In fact, as your Mortgage Loan Officer has no doubt discussed with you, now that your loan application has been Pre-approved, a whole new, long list of choices and decisions come into consideration. Perhaps, up until you were finally handed that prized Pre-approval, you kept hopes and dreams a bit under wraps. Of course, you have pictured the kinds of features you’d like in a home, the “ideal” location, the style, and setting. However, until your loan was actually Pre-approved and you knew for sure how much money would be loaned for your purchase, you tried not

With all the important preliminary steps completed, your home loan application file has earned you Pre-approval, and Underwriting has notified your personal loan officer that you have a green light to move forward! That’s the good news phone call your mortgage loan officer likes to make! It’s so exciting to know that you can now move on to the fun part: actually looking for your home with the help of the Realtor of your choice. Your Pre-approval is “valid” for 120 days from the date of the first Credit Report accessed by your home loan officer, back at the beginning of your application process. Selecting your Realtor is an important step! It’s possible you have made that choice already, and further possible that your Realtor has already been checking the marketplace for you. If you have not chosen a Realtor and don’t know where to begin with that important step, your mortgage loan officer can advise you on how to make the right choice for your goals and needs. Depend