Your First Meeting With a Mortgage Advisor

After you have been pre-approved and have decided on what home to buy, you want to start the loan approval process. This process begins with an initial interview where you and your mortgage broker discuss your different alternatives.

In the first meeting, the mortgage broker will help you fill out a 1003 mortgage application form. To speed up the mortgage approval process, you’ll need to bring several documents that are needed for the approval of the loan:

• A purchase contract for the house (if you have one)
• Your bank account numbers and the address of your bank branch, along with checking and savings account statements for the previous 2-3 months
• Pay stubs, W2 withholding forms, tax returns for two years, or other proof of employment and income verification
• Credit card bills for the past few billing periods, or canceled checks for rent or utility bill payments, to show payment history and amount of revolving debt
• Information on other consumer debt such as car loans, furniture loans, student loans and retail credit cards
• Balance sheets and tax returns, if you are self-employed
• Any gift letters, if you are using a gift from a parent or relative or other organization to pay for the down payment and/or closing costs. This letter indicates that the money is in fact a gift and will not have to be repaid.

By having those items when visiting your mortgage broker, you’ll help speed up the loan application process.

Also, you may have to give an appraisal fee which will cover the appraisal of the property you are interested in buying.

After the first meeting, you should have a response within 48 hours. In most instances, you may “forget” about the mortgage process and go on with your life while your mortgage broker works hard at getting you the loan.

In the next article, we’ll look at ways on How to Speed up the Mortgage Process.