There seems to be a little confusion among consumers when it comes to pre-qualification. To be best prepared to make an offer on a home, you should be pre-qualified for the purchase amount. A pre-qualification is usually based on income or credit history and is only a brief snapshot of your financial picture. You may get many mailers that tell you that you are pre-qualified for a loan up to $xxx amount. This is usually just a ploy to get you to call in and start dialog with a loan officer. (I mean no disrespect to loan officers, but it really is a marketing piece with a purpose of lead generation.) You will be best served talking directly with a loan officer or Realtor early on in the process. If you do not have any idea who to use as a lender, then your Realtor should be able to give you some good referrals.
A good lender will know the programs available to you. You will first make an application for a loan. You will need the following items to expedite the application process:
- Most current paycheck stub(s) for the past 30 days with YTD.
- W-2's for the past 2 years.
- All pages of bank statements on all asset accounts for the last 2 months.
- Landlord's name, address, and phone number for the last two years of your residence
- Photocopy of your driver's license(s) and social security card(s)
- Name address and phone number of your insurance agent.
- Last two years of tax returns and/or profit and loss. YTD if self-employed or if commission income.
- If purchase loan, signed copy of earnest money agreement.
Once you have given these items to your loan officer and he or she has reviewed them and has an idea of the types of loan programs that you can qualify for, then you can truly be pre-qualified.
;)
;)
