Mistakes to avoid when getting a mortgage?

[Anonymous]

HELP!

[kuku4koco]

What specifically is it that you want to know????

[Anonymous]

Paperwork? Good references/people to talk to?

[StartingOver10]

Pretty broad question.  Here are a couple of tips to get you started:

• Right now, stay away from the big box banks like Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.
• Go to a mortgage banker (also called a correspondent lender). Someone that originates, underwrites and funds their own loans (not just a broker that doesn't underwrite or fund)
• The loan officer and his team are critical to a smooth purchase. Experience counts. If the LO is non-communicative, move on to someone else. 
• Get your financial house in order before you ever apply with a loan officer. This means credit, income and debt.  Look through the stickies and some of the other posts to get an idea of some of the issues that pop up. Most of the time if there is an issue it is a Debt to Income issue (sometimes a credit issue).

Others can jump in with more information for you

[Anonymous]

STAY AWAY FROM NEW CREDIT!!! Do not open any sort of new account or apply for any credit cards/car loans/personal loans etc.

[birjest]

Make sure you have no lates in the past 36 months, unless the rules has changed.  Also, clear any colllections or judgements on your report.....

NO NEW CREDIT CARD OR ACCOUNT......NO-NO

If you have any blemish, be prepared to explain and writes letters about them.  Fairly easy, just give the UW a warm fuzzy feeling about you.

Oh yes, depending on the type of cloan you applying for:  DTI!

[Anonymous]

Use a checklist for questions to ask your realtor and questions for your lender.   Make sure you do your due diligence before you pay any money for an inspection or appraisal that the property is actually insurable!!!  Do not expect your "team" to catch things for you. 

[Anonymous]

Pull your own credit reports! We made the mistake of letting our LO pull our credit every month for 6 months - so 6 inquiries on my report. I could've Paid to soft pull them from myfico (unless of course you have good enough credit and don't need to improve your score).

[mynameainttracy]

Save money. It amazes me the number of people that want to buy a house and have no money saved up. Don't assume you can get sellers to cover your closing, that is something that your market kind of dictates. Even moving is expensive. Don't make yourself house poor.

We didn't buy until we had at least 5% in our savings account. We didn't need it to close but we had it for incidentals.

[Anonymous]

Request your 4506T for the past 4 years to be sure everything matches with your tax returns.   Do not depend on your realtor to do anything for you except getting a contract.  Be proactive throughout the process.    Lastly, don't stop living.