The Steps of the Loan Process
Getting a home mortgage can be a complicated process. At Contemporary Mortgage Services, Inc., we do most of the heavy lifting for you, so you can concentrate on what's important — preparing to move into your new home.
Step 1: Decide on your Maximum Loan Amount & What you can Afford
This is a function of a couple things. Based on your income and credit history, what is the maximum loan amount you can borrow from a lender? How much of a monthly payment can you afford? You can get a good idea of your preferred monthly payment amount using the free online loan calculators on our website (Click Here for Our Online Mortgage Calculators). We'll also help you through different scenarios by asking a few simple questions. We will also get you a good idea of what kind of terms and loan programs you can expect to benefit from the most. We will be honest with you, and will never put you in a situation where you borrow more than you can afford or get upside down on your monthly payment obligations.
Step 2: Complete a Loan Application and Get Pre-qualified (Click Here for our Online Loan Application)
The easiest way to complete a loan application, is by going to our secure online loan application portal (CLICK HERE TO APPLY NOW). Our online loan application provides you the opportunity of completing the loan application on your own time. You can start the process and go back at a later time to complete it. It also has a secure document upload feature, to send us the documents needed for the loan process. If you prefer, we can also take your application over the phone, in person, or we can send you a secure fillable form to complete and send back to us. We will accommodate whatever option is easiest for you.
The loan application will ask you to provide information such as; your residency history, current employment and income, assets, and additional info on your credit history, including any property you may currently own. After we have gathered your Information (and only after you have given us your permission), we can pull your credit report and get your credit score. This is also the step of the loan process where we will send you a list of documentation that will be required by a lender to verify and approve the information on your loan application.
After we've reviewed this information, we'll provide you with a pre-qualification letter, including the loan amount you are approved to borrow. The pre-qualification letter gives you a huge advantage when submitting an offer to a seller. Most sellers will not even entertain an offer without a written pre-qualification letter. Also, while you are out looking for a new home with your real estate agent, we will continue to search through our network of wholesale lenders to find the best interest rate and loan program for you.
Here is a checklist of some of the documents we will need: Loan App Checklist
Step 3: Find a Home and Get Offer Accepted (if you are Refinancing, skip to next step)
Once you have found a home and made an offer that the sellers have accepted, you will sign the Sales Contract or Purchase Agreement. The sales contract will list a few important items that we will need to get your loan approved. It will list the date of the closing, along with the name of the escrow / title company that will be handling facilitating the closing of the sale. This title company will also be responsible for preparing and issuing the title documentation required to ensure there are no open liens or any existing title issues that could challenge your ownership of the property. We'll coordinate with this company to ensure that we will make the set closing date. While we handle all the leg work, you can concentrate on the important things, such as; the logistics of moving, painting, carpet, and all the other details that come with moving into a new house.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: It is never a good idea to open a any new credit accounts during the loan process, without talking to your loan originator first)
Step 4: Underwriting
While you are working on the prior steps, we will search through our network of lenders to find the one that is offering the best loan program for you, with the lowest available interest rate. Once we have a copy of the fully executed sales contract / purchase agreement, along with all the other requested income, asset, and credit documentation, we can then register your file with the chosen lender. We then send you the initial loan disclosures to eSign that are needed so that we can then submit everything to the lender’s underwriting department.
An underwriter will then follow the loan program’s guidelines to review all the information and documentation that we have sent to them. They will then issue a “Conditional Underwriting Approval”. The conditional approval will list a set of conditions that must be met before the lender can issue the “Final Underwriting Approval” or “Clear to Close”. The conditions are normally things such as; an appraisal report, clear title report, and homeowner’s insurance. The underwriter may also ask for things such as; sources of any large deposits on your bank statements, additional income documentation or verifications, explanations for things in credit history, etc… We will try our best to get these items cleared without having to bother you for additional documentation, so you can concentrate on getting everything else ready for the move to your new home.
Step 5: Closing & Funding
Once all of the underwriting conditions have been met and cleared by the underwriter, the lender will then issue the “Final Underwriting Approval” or “Clear to Close”. We will then handle facilitating with all the parties involved to get everything ready for the closing date. We will work with the title company to make sure all the numbers can be finalized and sent to you ahead of closing. We always push to get this done way ahead of schedule, so that there is no last minute rushing around on or before the day of closing. We (along with the title company) will send you the final cash to close amount, with plenty of time to spare, so you can coordinate with your bank to get the wire sent for closing.
The title company will coordinate with you to schedule a time on the day of closing to come to their office and sign all of the documentation. We facilitate this day and time with the lender to ensure that the funding wire will be sent to the title company, so that after you have completed signing all of the closing documents, you will be handed the keys to your new home!
Additional Tips Regarding The Loan Process:
Why Choose Us?
One of the things that sets us apart from all other mortgage companies, is that we strive to make this loan process as easy as possible for every single one of our customers. Unlike most large banks and mortgage companies out there, we treat our customers like the individual people that they are, instead of just another file number or name on a page. Most of our business comes from referrals and repeat customers, which motivates us to go above and beyond for every single customer. This work ethic and personal touch, is the reason we have been able to stay in business since 1985, and have been fortunate enough to serve generations of customers throughout the years.
Have a question? Contact us today 407-834-3377 or info@contemporarymortgage.com