When I receive a call, text, email or a referral from a Coldwell Banker Realtor®, I try my hardest to make the mortgage work because I know that buying a house is an extremely stressful time of life and a mortgage is one major part of the process.
So what does the mortgage approval process look like?
The mortgage application asks:
- Who you are and where you’ve lived and worked for the last 3 years
- Goes over your assets and debts
- Includes any properties currently owned
- Checks your credit score
- Includes the new property you are purchasing
A typical mortgage application takes anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes to complete, depending on the number of questions you have and how in-depth you want to go.
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions I get from my clients.
Q: What benefits are there to using a Mortgage Broker over a bank?
A: A Mortgage Broker works for you, not the lending institution that loans you the money. This gives Mortgage Brokers the ability to broker the loan through many lending institutions, whereas a banker can only use the bank they work for to source mortgages.
Q: How much does it cost to use a Mortgage Broker?
A: Mortgage Brokers are paid a commission from the lending institution once the house is purchased. It costs you nothing to use the services of a Mortgage Broker.
Q: What information is needed to qualify for a mortgage?
A: While everyone has different employment histories, and lenders have different guidelines, the general rule of thumb is to collect:
- Most recent pay stub and a letter from your employer
- Your most recent 2 years T4s and Notices of Assessment
- A 90-day history of your money used for a down payment. This history must be from all accounts that have the funds.
Q: Does a pre-approval expire?
A: Most lenders have a 120 day rate hold available to their clients. There are often rate promotions and specials that might have expiry periods of 30, 45, 60 or 90 days. Always make sure you know when your rate expires.
Q: What’s the difference between being pre-approved and being pre-qualified?
A: Pre-approvals don’t verify your documents upfront. Being pre-qualified means a lending institution has reviewed your income and financial documents to make sure everything is in order.
Q: I was pre-approved or pre-qualified for a mortgage. Can I still get declined?
A: Yes. The missing piece in the pre-approval and pre-qualifying process is the house. It’s ultimately up to the lender, and potentially mortgage insurer, to give the thumbs up on the house you are purchasing. If it doesn’t meet their criteria of square footage, has known defects such as foundation issues or asbestos
Whether you are a seasoned house shopper or a first time home buyer, you can trust the teams at Coldwell Banker Battle River Realty and Axiom Mortgage Solutions to help you along the path to home ownership.
