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I'm buying my fist home alone. I am employeed. Same employer and I make a little over $100k. My credit usage is 4 percent. I have two collections and student loans. I have all of my deposit and closing cost which I submitted statements for. My mortgage score is a 638. I've never done this before and I am terrified of the unknown. My lender said I have been a great client thus far.
UW was terrifying last year when my wife and I bought our house. Worse than just standard UW our bank was adjusting policies due to COVID and our loan officer was constantly getting new information and having to adjust strategies for us to qualify for the product we needed. There were numerous hoops to jump through and it was a frustraing process. We followed the guidance of our loan officer perfectly and it worked out well for us, we needed several exceptions that I don't think we would have received had we not been so willing to work with our loan officer. So continue to be seen as a great client by your lender and things should work out for you.
I will also add, now that we are over a year out from having closed on our house, UW is temporary. While it was a frustrating and stressful period of time, it is not something I think about anymore.
In my opinion, the best thing you can hear from underwriting is nothing lol. The silence is deafening, but at the same time if they're not asking for things then there's nothing out of the ordinary. I'm closing on my third house this Friday. First one scared me to death. Second one, I was scared but knew what I was getting in to. The one I'm closing on this Friday was a breeze, partially because I know and trust the process at this point.
The biggest advice I can give anyone, especially a first-time buyer, is if underwriting asks you for a document or an explanation, don't take it personal - just get them what they need. Y'all are all working together for the same result at the finish line. Best of luck to you!
Fear helps no one. The UW isn't there to say no, they are there to make sure you can pay back the mortgage and if you got that far, as long as you didn't miss any payments, open any new accounts, increase balances, or lost income, you can remedy most deficiencies and most UW or mortgage officers will help you.
My Dad works in mortgages and I know some UWs personally, so maybe I'm biased?
I will reiterate the advice @JGGM gave. I am in your same position- first time & on my own. Im not done yet, but I just received closing letter & will close in 3 weeks, house is just about finished. Its all a process (overwhelming yes!!!) but listen to the expert Loan officers & provide what they want in a timely manner & it will be fine. I warned my LO I would "pester" to make sure all is well when the silence made me super-nervous, but they are used to this from future homeowners & reassured me every time.
I will also say reading experiences from others here on this forum was helpful to calm my mind down as well
Best of luck!
The problem most people experience with underwriting is working with big box retail lenders that take a week to get back to you about what is needed.
working with a broker generally lessens that turn time to 1-2 days after every submission for review to underwriting.
so if you have a good loan officer and/or processor, your loan file can generally be underwritten subject to title and appraisal within a weeks time.
Income is the quickest / easiest condition to review if submitted correctly. Only obstacle that would be out you and your lenders control could be a Verfication of Employement if you have variable income.
When I did mine I didn't think I'd actually get the house until they handed me the keys. If you were prequalified you're going to be just fine. Just relax and let them do the work. They will definitely get ahold of you if you need to do anything. I'm in the middle of a refinance now and even though I'm less anxious than the first time I still find myself refreshing my email inbox way too often.