Mortgage loan process - Suburban Mortgage

An overview of the loan process

Make no mistake, there's a lot involved in getting a mortgage loan. You wouldn't be here on our website if you could fill out a one-page application and get the best loan for you funded the same day. What we do is most of the heavy lifting for you, so you can concentrate on what's important -- preparing to move into your new home, saving money, or making plans for your home equity line of credit.

There are four main steps involved in getting a loan. You'll see that we've made your part in them as easy as possible, and we do all the work! That's what we're here for.

Step one: Pre-qualify with one of us.

Pre-qualification is function of several circumstances. How much of a monthly payment can you afford? And given your unique credit and employment history, income and debt, and goals, how much will a lender loan you?

You supply information about your employment, your assets, residence history, and so on. With your permission, we'll run your credit report and perform a budget analysis.

If the program allows, we will use an Automated Underwriting System to pre-approve your loan. This is the same system a human underwriter will use to make the final approval after everything has been verified. If we are careful about the information we put in, your loan really is pre-approved, not just prequalified.

Not every program allows for this automated underwriting pre-approval. If the program we are discussing doesn't allow it, we will go through all the steps above and manually compare your profile to the requirements for the program. We have a lot of experience at this and it will give you a great idea of what is likely to happen when you have found your new home and apply formally.

Step two: Go house hunting with your agent.

When we review all this information we give you a Pre-Qualification Form. Handle it with care -- to a home seller, it's like a suitcase full of cash! Your real estate agent will use your "PQF" (as they may call it) to make the best offer on the home you choose, and the seller knows you're pre-qualified. It gives you buying clout! And while you're picking out the home that's right for you, we're ready to go into high gear as soon as you find it.

Step three: Full Application & Documentation

Once you've made an offer and it's been accepted, it's time to complete the loan application process. We are going to ask you to verify your income and assets as you gave them to us during the pre-qualification stage. (If you haven't already done this.) We will keep the documentation we request to the bare minimum needed to satisfy the requirements of the loan program. If we don't need it, we won't ask for it!

When the time is right, we'll order an appraisal of your new home and submit the completed loan application package to our in-house underwriters for final approval.

Step four: Your loan gets final approval and is funded.

Your real estate agent and the seller's agent will work together to designate an escrow/title company to handle the funding of your loan once it's approved. We'll coordinate with the escrow company to make sure all the papers we need are in order, and you'll sign everything at the escrow/title company's office.

You've answered a few questions, given us some detailed information, applied online, and next thing you know, you're moving in! We're in the business of mortgage loans -- so we do most of the work. Doesn't that make sense?

For free online workshops regarding many parts of the buying process, click this image: