Get Started on Your Mortgage

Ok, you are beyond the planning stages and you think its time. But you are unsure what is needed from your mortgage professional to be able to find out what you can qualify for, or what you can afford. Here is what we will need from you to help you get a mortgage... Let's break it down by category.

Call or email and we can discuss any unique circumstances you may have.  But providing the information for the above categories (income, down payment, credit profile, and other assets) will go a LONG WAY in getting you ready.  Whether it’s to refinance your current home, buy your first home, or purchase another Investment property, these items can jump start the process. 

We need to be able to document and illustrate to a disinterested underwriter that you have a steady income stream. We need to document two full years of income. There are different ways we go about that. Here are a few…

1. If you are an employee that gets a regular paycheck at defined intervals (weekly, Bi-weekly, Semi- monthly, Monthly) then we will usually only need to see the previous month’s paystubs. Keep in mind, the salient point is we want to prove a steady income level, or at least a “base level”. Variable income streams (like overtime, bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, etc) will need a little more documentation. We’ll come back to that.
2. Self employed- This sounds scary but it really isn’t. the only thing to remember is this… what you tell Uncle Same you made- IS WHAT YOU MADE. A few caveats allow us to make allowances for “paper losses” like depreciation, business use of home, “one time expenses”. The standard level of documentation for Self employed borrowers is “Completed tax returns” including all schedules and attachments. We MUST document that you have been self employed (and filed taxes as self employed) for two years. 
3. Pensions, Social Security, Retirements- These are usually paid monthly, often by an auto deposit. We need the most recent “proof” of the income (like a paystub). If you don’t have a stub, the last three month’s bank statements, showing the auto deposit, will be fine.
4. Proceeds from 401k’s or IRAS. These monies can only be used as income if you have an automatic withdrawal/deposit scenario already established and can be documented by three month’s bank statements. We can talk in more depth later
5. Part time income/side jobs. Same rules apply as started above with a caveat. Part time income can ONLY be counted if you have a 2 year history of having that source of income. 

How much money will you be putting down? We can discuss the various programs that allow for varied down payments, but generally speaking we would want to see WHERE the funds originated from. Bank accounts, investment accounts, Sale of a current home… all of these are normal places we would see down payment funds. But these are not the only ways to have a down payment. Some examples are…

• Monies in your bank accounts (checking, savings, money market)
• Monies in investment accounts
• POSSIBLY monies available to you in your company sponsored 401k plans
• Equity that’s in a current home
• GIFTS from “relatives”. Relative is loosely defined as “someone of a relationship that it could be reasonably argued would gladly GIVE you money with no expectation of repayment”.

This one is simple. We will obtain what is called a “Tri-merge mortgage credit report”. We only ask that remove any and all “freezes” you may have placed on your credit profile. You can also obtain a free credit report each year and many entities now provide “services” to consumers where you can find out your credit scores in advance. 

Any information that may help you in documenting additional assets, income, or information.

• Do you own other properties now? We’ll need information about those
• Do you have any other “unique” streams of income? Dividends, trusts, rentals. We can discuss those in more detail