THe Loan Process
As your local Kentucky mortgage broker, my job is to not only find you the best deal possible, but also make the process smooth and stress-free for everyone involved. Below are the basic milestones we’ll work through in your home purchase or refinance, from the initial application to keys in hand.
Step-By-Step
Determine Your Budget: It’s important that you take a look at your monthly income and compare it to your financial obligations to decide what kind of monthly payment you’ll be comfortable with. Owning a home comes with a lot of responsibility and you want to be sure you’re not overextending yourself.
Apply for Pre-Approval: At this point we’ll take a look at your employment history, income, assets, and credit report to determine if you can get approved, and if so, for how much. I will need to review all the documentation listed here to verify that the info on your application is accurate.
Home Shopping: We’ll also discuss which loan program will work best for you and talk about different strategies you can use when making an offer on a house to help your chances of success. It’s extremely important that me and your realtor be on the same page with these strategies to ensure that your offer stands out among the rest.
Offer Accepted: Our game plan worked and your offer was accepted! Your full loan application will be sent to you, and your documentation, including the purchase contract,, will be submitted to underwriting to be reviewed.
Home Inspection: At this point you will typically have the home inspected to look for any major or minor issues. While not required for your loan approval, it’s highly recommended that you get an inspection.
Title Search and Appraisal: If your home inspection is satisfactory, we then go ahead and order the title search and appraisal. Typically these can take 1-2 weeks to be completed.
Conditional Approval: Underwriting has reviewed our initial submission and will let us know what, if anything, will be needed for full approval.
Final Approval: The appraisal and title search have been completed and underwriting approved the missing documents they requested. You’ve been cleared to close!
Preparing for Closing: A form called the closing disclosure (CD) will be sent to you to that breaks down all the details of your loan, including the monthly payment, closing costs, escrow deposits, and prepaid items. There is a federally required 3-day review period after you have signed the initial CD before you can sign the closing documents.
Closing: Final closing documents have been sent to the title company and you’ve been provided a copy of the final CD with your exact cash-to-close. You’ll bring a cashier’s check for that amount along with your driver’s license to closing where you’ll sign the final documents and get the keys to your new home!