The Home Buying Process
The home buying process can be very complicated and
confusing, especially if you are a first time homebuyer.
Even if you have previously purchase a home you will find that there have
been some changes in the process.
The intent of this information is to take the mystery out of the home buying
process by setting forth the activities that usually occur in a typical home
purchase transaction. And to
hopefully provide some information that will make for a smooth process.
Pre-Approval
Before starting to look at properties to purchase, you should get
pre-approved for a mortgage loan. The obvious reason to take this action is so
you are not looking at properties for which you have no hope of purchasing. And
you might discover that you can qualify for a loan that would allow you to
purchase a property at a price higher than you were expecting.
The term “pre-approval” is sometimes used synonymously with the term
“pre-qualified”. Some people
suggest there is a difference between the two terms. It is not important what
term is used – what is important is that you deal with a competent mortgage
provider who performs adequate due diligence during the pre-approval process. The
worse thing that can happen is to spend a significant amount of time looking at
properties based on a pre-approval, enter into a contract, and then discover
that you cannot buy the property because you cannot obtain a loan.
The pre-approval process starts with you providing financial information,
including such items as your residency and employment for past two years,
current income, and assets. And it involves a credit report being obtained.
The types of loans available and loan terms are dependent on the type of
property – single family detached, condominium, townhome, duplex, etc. Thus,
during the pre-approval process it is helpful to attempt to determine the type
of property you might be purchasing.
Obtaining a mortgage loan requires that you provide documentation supporting
your income and assets (i.e. paystub, bank statements, W-2s). For
some borrowers, tax returns and other documentation will be needed. However, the
documentation must be reasonably current. Thus, depending upon where you are in
the home buying process and your specific income and asset sources, you may or
may not be asked to provide documentation during the pre-approval process.
There are numerous types of mortgage loans (Conventional, FHA, VA), and numerous
ways to structure a mortgage loan (i.e. loan term, down payment amount, fixed
rate loan or adjustable rate loan, etc). Many borrowers will have choices as to
the best type of loan and best structure that will fit their specific financial
situation. As part of the pre-qualification process we will discuss the options
available and the pros and cons of the various options, and attempt to identify
the preferred loan type and loan structure.
Because the pre-approval is based on
the information you provided and information on the credit report, it is best to
avoid making any major changes to your employment or financial situation.
Actions you should take:
- Save recent paystubs and bank statements
- Start locating W-2s and tax returns from previous years
- Make sure payments on current debts are made on time
Actions you should avoid taking:
- Do not quit your job or change jobs
- Do not take on new debts or increase current debts
- Avoid moving money from one bank account to another
Property Acceptability
Many homebuyers mistakenly think that if they are qualified for a
mortgage loan, they can purchase any type of property they want. What they
forget is that a mortgage loan is a secured loan and the property acts as
collateral for the loan. Thus, the acceptability of the property as collateral
is an important part of the loan approval process.
Generally speaking, most residential properties are eligible as collateral for a
mortgage loan. However, there are certain types of properties that are not
eligible, and some properties where obtaining a mortgage loan can prove
challenging.
The following types of properties are not eligible collateral for a mortgage
loan:
- Condominium
Hotels / Condotels
- Homes that
are not habitable and accessible year round
- Log Cabins
- Manufactured
homes and mobile homes
- Properties
with potential health or safety risks
- Residential
properties located in commercial zoning
- Time-Share
Units
- Properties
that have been built with unique construction materials, such as rammed
earth, cob (mud and straw), compressed earth, and straw bale construction.
- Unimproved
land
- Properties
that are commercial in nature (i.e. not residential), such as working farms
and ranches
- Properties
that are in extremely “poor” condition. This is somewhat subjective in
nature, but effectively what this means is that the property is not
immediately habitable .
Condominium
properties are in most cases eligible for a mortgage loan, but some condos are
not eligible or financing is somewhat limited. With a condo, the acceptability
of the property is dependent upon the overall condition of the condominium
project. Items that are reviewed for loan purposes include the number of owner
occupied residents vs. rental units, and the overall financial condition of the
homeowners association. If a new construction condo project, the number of sold
units is a key item that will dictate whether or not financing is available.
Making an Offer
Once you have identified a property that you want to purchase, you will make an
offer on the property. This involves the completion of the standard Colorado
real estate contract. Assuming you have hired a real estate agent, your agent
will assist you in the completion of the contract.
Your agent will present the contract and a
“pre-approval letter” (aka – “lender letter”) to the real estate agent
that represents the seller.
The purpose of the lender letter is to make the seller feel “warm and cozy”
that you are qualified for a loan that would allow you to purchase the property.
We will customize the lender letter to match the offer you are making on the
property and include corresponding loan details.
The contract will have a deadline by which the seller must respond to the offer
in order for the offer to remain valid. The seller can respond to your offer in
a number of ways. The seller can accept the offer “as is”. Or the seller can
make a counter offer. Or the seller can reject the offer. In rare situations,
the seller will simply ignore the offer.
If the seller makes a counter offer, you need to decide whether or not to accept
the counter. Or you could counter the counter. It is possible that you may
decide not to pursue the counter, and simply move on to a different property.
Under Contract
At some point in time you will identify the property you want to purchase, and
will agree on a purchase price and other terms. Once you are under contract,
there are a number of things that will happen, many of which will be happening
simultaneously.
Lock the Interest Rate
Once you are under contract, you have the ability to “lock” the interest
rate. When you lock the rate, you are also locking the “price” of the
interest rate – the rate may have “discount points” or a “lender
credit” (money passed through to you to offset the closing costs).
A lock is a mutual agreement between you and the lender that the loan will be at
a specified rate and corresponding price, provided that the loan closes within
the lock period.
Lock periods are for 30 days, 45 days or 60 days, and the price is slightly
higher the longer the lock period. If the closing date (per the contract) is
within 30 days, we would use the 30-day lock period. If the closing date is
within 45 days, we could use the 45-day lock price, or wait for 15 days and use
the 30-day pricing - however, by waiting you run the risk that rates could go
up.
After you have locked the rate, then the rate and the
price for that rate cannot change. If interest rates go up, you are protected.
If rates go down, the rate and price will stay the same. Having said this, if
rates go down significantly (i.e. 1/2% or more) I have had fairly good success
in getting the lender to improve/lower the rate. But it is rare that rates will
move down 1/2% in a 30 to 45 day period.
You do not have to lock once you go under contract. You
could wait until at least 2 weeks prior to closing to lock the rate/price. By
waiting to lock you run the risk that mortgage rates could get worse. But of
course, the rate could get better too.
While the choice of when to lock is certainly in your control, unless you have a
crystal ball that tells you that rates are going down it is generally a good
idea to lock the pricing soon after going under contract.
Property Inspection
An important item that you will need to arrange as soon as practical after going
under contract is an inspection of the property by a competent property
inspector. If you do not know of a qualified property inspector, your real
estate agent should be able to recommend someone.
The entire inspection process could take as long as couple of weeks to complete.
It usually is a good idea to delay ordering an appraisal of the property until
the inspection is done and any inspection issues are resolved – we do not want
to spend money on an appraisal if the inspection reveals items that make the
property unacceptable. Since we need an appraisal to obtain final loan approval,
getting the inspection process completed quickly is key to a timely loan
approval.
After inspecting the property, the inspector will issue you a written report
that describes the condition of the property. Since no property is ever perfect,
the report will most likely set forth some deficiencies in the property. You
will need to decide how to deal with these deficiencies.
If there are major issues with the property, you could simply cancel the
contract and receive a refund of your earnest money deposit. Or you could ask
the seller to repair the items. Or you could ask the seller to give you money at
closing and you will make repairs after closing. Since for loan purposed there
is a limit on how much money the seller can give a homebuyer, if any money is
flowing from seller to you, I will need to be involved with this.
This entire process – the inspection and resolution of inspection items - is
subject to specific deadlines that are set forth in your contract.
Processing the Loan
With a contract in place, we begin processing the loan. The end result we are
seeking is a final loan approval with no specific conditions, or no conditions
that you cannot satisfy.
Loan processing includes verifying/documenting your income, employment, and
assets. The specific documentation that will be needed will vary from borrower
to borrower. I will send to you a list of the specific documents that will be
needed, usually very soon after you have an executed contract.
Another part of the loan processing involves obtaining “title work” on the
property. The title work is generated by a title company. In Colorado, it is
common and customary for the seller to pay for the buyer’s “owners’ title
insurance”, which means that the title company that will be utilized will
usually be selected by the property seller. The title company will send all
parties involved in the transaction a “title commitment” that will set forth
the requirements necessary in order to obtain title insurance.
The loan processing also involves obtaining an appraisal of the property. I will
arrange for an appraiser to visit the property and issue an appraisal report.
Property Insurance
Another item that you will need to be arranging soon after going under contract
is property insurance.
If the property is a condo or townhome, the building will usually be covered
under a blanket policy which is handled by the homeowners association and is
included in the HOA dues. But in most cases you will also need a separate
“contents insurance” (an HO6 policy) to cover items inside the unit such as
cabinets, plumbing fixtures, carpeting, and window coverings.
You can obtain property insurance through any insurance company of your
choosing. Once you have identified the insurance company you will need to
provide me with the name & phone number of your agent or the insurance
company representative.
The first year’s premium for the property insurance
will be paid at loan closing. The title company handling the closing will
disburse the funds directly to the insurance company.
Final Loan Approval
In most cases, we should have final loan approval no later than 3 to 4 weeks
after contract has been executed. Depending
upon how quickly the property inspection was done and inspection items resolved,
it is possible we could obtain final approval earlier than this.
Once we have obtained final loan approval, do not make any major changes to your
employment or financial situation – do not quit your job, and do not take on
any new significant debts.
After we have received final loan approval, we will begin the closing
process.
Closing Process
The closing process starts with my arranging for “loan closing
instructions" to be sent to the title company. The title company will use
the closing instructions, plus information from the contract and other sources
to generate the final "Closing Statement".
The Closing Statement will itemize the transaction - showing the purchase price,
loan amount, closing costs, etc and will show the final amount that you will
need to bring to closing. The money you bring to closing needs to be “good
funds” – either a wire transfer to the title company or a cashier’s check.
Some title companies move faster than others, but generally it takes the
title company 1-2 business days from receipt of the closing instructions to have
a Closing Statement available for our review.
Closing
The date of the closing is set forth in the real estate contract. The closing is
conducted by the title company, and is usually held at the title company’s
office. The typical closing takes about 1 hour. The parties at the loan closing
are usually a representative of the title company, the seller, the seller’s
real estate agent, yourself, and your agent. Unlike most mortgage providers, I
always attend the closing.
Although it may not be apparent, there are actually two closings that take place
virtually simultaneously – one involved the transfer of real estate (the real
estate closing) and the other involves the mortgage loan (the loan closing).
Thus, at the closing you will be signing two sets of documents.
The real estate closing and applicable documents that
you will sign relates to the sale/transfer of the real estate. These documents
are prepared by the title company, and include such items as the Closing
Statement, a document that sets forth the final settlement between buyer
and seller relating to property items (i.e. real estate taxes, water, HOA dues,
etc) and other documents required pursuant to the sales contract.
The documents relating to the mortgage loan
are the "Loan Documents". One of the services I provide my customers
is the opportunity to review the Loan Documents they will be
signing at the closing in advance of the closing. This avoids any
surprises and makes the closing go a bit quicker. In most cases you should
receive the Loan Documents at least 2 -3 days prior to the closing.
After all the documents are signed and you have provided whatever money is
needed to complete the transaction, you will be the proud owner of a new
property.
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