The Basics of the Mortgage Process
Buying a new home is the largest purchase most people will make in their life. You want to ensure that you are confident about your financial readiness before you begin searching. The best way to do this is to educate yourself about the ins and outs of the mortgage process and work with experts that are looking out for your best interests. First Community Credit Union has compiled key steps of the mortgage process to help you get started planning the purchase of your new home.
Mortgage pre-approval
Obtaining a loan pre-approval is the first step of the mortgage process. A pre-approval confirms that you are eligible to receive a loan based on your credit score and past credit history. It’s important to know that pre-qualification is not the same as a pre-approval. A loan pre-qualification is a less robust process usually involving a loan officer asking you some lightweight questions about your ability to repay a mortgage. This is not verified with a credit report and is a less accurate measure of someone’s ability to buy a home. Our friendly and knowledgeable mortgage specialists at First Community Credit Union can quickly pull a report for a loan pre-approval at no charge to you so that you can shop for your new dream home with confidence!
Shopping for a home
After you are pre-approved for a loan it’s time to start shopping around for homes. For most people, this process begins with searching for homes online using trusted sites like Realtor.com and Trulia.com. You will also want to find a buyer’s agent to help you navigate the home buying process. In most cases, the seller of the home will pay your real estate agent’s fees. We recommend selecting an agent based on the experience they bring to the table. After you visit and decide on the home you are interested in, your next step would be to make an offer on the home. If your offer is accepted, you’ll continue to the next step of the mortgage process after completing any contingencies and paying a deposit.
Applying for a mortgage loan
Regardless of whether you are an experienced or first-time homebuyer, First Community Credit Union can help you with filling out your loan application so that you can get an accurate loan estimate.
Information you and all borrowers will provide when applying includes:
- Employment details
- Income
- Assets
- Debts
- Property information
First Community Credit Union offers competitive fixed and adjustable rates on mortgage loans that are locally serviced. Keeping your mortgage rate low means bigger savings in the future. Our goal is to put you in a position to incur less debt so that you can focus on building finances and investing in home improvement measures that will increase the resell value of the home.
Underwriting
The underwriter is a key decision-maker in the approval of a mortgage loan. Underwriters’ will review your credit history and ability to pay back a loan and will look over all the documentation from your mortgage application to ensure accuracy. First Community Credit Union can help you verify any information in question that is flagged during the underwriting process. Once the underwriter approves the loan, your interest rate will be locked, and you will then begin the closing process.
Closing
The last step of the mortgage process is closing. Documents are drawn up and sent to the title company, including the closing disclosure, the document that confirms the buyer’s costs. First Community Credit Union offers $1,000 off closing costs for certain first-time home buyers and our mortgage loan specialists are here for you if you need advice while reviewing closing documents. You will have three days prior to the closing meeting to review the closing disclosure. After documents are signed and completed the home is finally yours!
First Community Credit Union’s experienced Mortgage Officers will walk you through the details of the home-buying process and answer any questions that you have as you are applying for a mortgage. Get in touch with us so that we can help you get started with a mortgage preapproval today.