Documents you’ll need to apply for a mortgage
Okay, you first-time home buyer. You’ve scrimped, you’ve saved, and you’re ready to go talk to a banker or a mortgage lender about acquiring a mortgage. You’re going to take the leap and become a homeowner. What documents will you need to assemble? Let’s point out several.
First of all, you’ll need to share your driver’s license. Okay, that’s no biggie. You’ll also want to provide a secondary form of identification, typically a passport or your social security card.
Next, we’re going to look at $$ documents. You’ll need to supply a representative sketch of your financial picture. That means the banker or the mortgage lender will ask to see recent pay stubs (for at least a couple of months). You might supply copies of your bank’s statements for a couple of months, too. Then, we move on to bigger — annual — statements of your worth. You’ll be asked to provide copies of your Federal tax returns for the past couple of years, and it’s highly
likely that those Federal returns will include copies of your W2’s (or W9s if you are self-employed). It’s possible that your mortgage lender might request some other document as well, but these are the key elements of establishing your financial security. For instance, the lender may ask for your landlord’s contact info to verify that you have been paying your rent on time.
You can start the process of getting “pre-qualified” even before you start the home search. In fact, it’s a pretty good idea to do so, because the pre-qualification process usually takes several weeks. Then you have chosen a mega Realtor (and I’m hoping it’s me). We will work together: you’ll explain what you’re looking for, and I will narrow down selections based on your preferences and email them to you. Once you find a few you want to visit, we will go visit those homes (and I will be encouraging you to take notes — believe me, houses will “run together” in your brain quickly). Once you find THE house, we will execute a Purchase Contract on it — and you’ll take that to your lender.
If everything is in order — which means you’re not trying to buy an $800,000 house when you were only pre-approved for $300,000 — we submit the offer. If it’s accepted, there’s only a couple more hurdles before you get the keys to your new home. We’ll talk about those other hurdles in another post.
For now, start digging up your last couple of years’ tax returns, and give me a call. I can recommend some excellent local mortgage lenders. It’s sfelton@realtracs.com or call me at 615-870-4094.