What to Expect

You’ve found your home and your offer has been accepted! It’s time to complete an application.  Before diving in, take time to pull together documents that tell the story of your financial picture such as pay stubs, recent W-2s, bank statements and employment history for each person applying for the mortgage. You’ll submit these documents, and others, as part of the process. During this step, we’ll provide a loan estimate, which details important information in a clear, straightforward manner. It includes the anticipated interest rate, monthly payment and total closing costs, plus estimates for taxes and insurance, and how the interest rate and payments may change in the future.

Once your application is complete and all documents are in-hand, an appraisal will be ordered.  The appraiser will provide an estimated value based on the home’s physical inspection and comparable prices paid for homes in your area (aka "comps").

Processing is essentially dotting all the “i’s” and crossing all the “t’s."  Following processing, the loan moves to underwriting. Underwriting is mortgage lingo for the time and process of analyzing the loan and verifying the information provided as part of the application. It is during this step your loan can be officially approved. If any conditions are noted as part of your approval, you’ll work with the lender to resolve them. 

It’s the big day! Closing day is a tag team effort between the buyers, the sellers, the closing attorney and the mortgage lender. We all have roles to play—the attorney and the mortgage lender prepare the paperwork and legal documents and the buyers and sellers may bring funds for closing—all of which will be known well in advance.