In this post we’re covering the top five things you need to know before you apply for a mortgage to purchase a home. So, let’s get to it.

1. Your Credit

And we don’t just mean your credit score. It’s important to understand what’s driving your credit score. You need to know if there have been any late payments, or if there have been short sales. Have there been foreclosures? Any type of credit event. We don’t want any surprises when it comes to talking with a lender.

2. Your Debt

Any debt you have is going to show up on your credit report, so it’s good to know what debt you have when it comes to approaching a mortgage application. These can be any sort of monthly payments or obligations that go toward paying off loans. These don’t include things like cell phone or utility bills.

3. Your Down Payment Sources

Where is your money for the down payment coming from? We’ve dealt with people getting reimbursed from lending their friends money, $35,000 in baseball cards, or a bunch of money in antiques that they intend to use for their down payment. Usually, funds will need to be seasoned in a bank account. It’s helpful, if you have something you’re planning on selling, to do that sooner rather than later and get that money in your account so you’ll have verifiable funds ready for that down payment.

4. Your Employment Status

Your employment status matters. We’ll need to know if you’re self-employed or on a W-2. No matter how much money you have in the bank, we’ll need to know your employment status. This is especially important right now with people doing remote work.

We recently had a borrower who was working remotely and didn’t want their employer to know that they were buying a house in Scottsdale. So, that sort of stuff, as well, is part of knowing your employment. In these sorts of cases, we’ve found that we needed to get verification from borrowers employer’s that they are allowed to work remotely. 

5. The Type of Property You Want to Purchase

You need to know the type of property you want to purchase. Do you want to buy a house? A condo? A townhouse? Just land? The type of property you are planning on purchasing impacts the type of loan we’ll be working on getting for you. So, it’s important to know what you’re in the market for. 

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Thanks for listening and reading the Mortgage Brothers Show. Let us know if you have any questions you’d like us to answer on this podcast. You can email your questions to Tom@AZMortgageBrothers.com or Eddie@AZMortgageBrothers.com.

Be sure to ask us for a free quote on your next mortgage. We’ll personally work with you and help you through the whole process.

Signature Home Loans LLC does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction. Signature Home Loans NMLS 1007154, NMLS #210917 and 1618695. Equal housing lender.

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