Purchasing a house is an exciting time in anyone’s life! Getting preapproved, finding a realtor, shopping around for that perfect home. There are a lot of moving parts, dates to hit, and things to do and things not to do. There absolutely can and will be some blood, sweat, and tears going through the process of moving. It can be very overwhelming, especially for any first-time home buyer!  This is where we at Chissell Mortgage Group come to the rescue. To have a nice, smooth, and boring home buying transaction, here are a few mortgage Do’s and Don’ts!

#1 – Do get preapproved!

Getting preapproved is the #1 most important thing to do before looking to purchase a home! This gives you the knowledge that you are qualified and able to purchase the homes that you are putting offers on. Without getting preapproved, you are potentially wasting your time, your agents time, and the seller’s time. Getting preapproved removes that headache!

#2 – Do not quit your job!

In most cases, the mortgage that you are applying for has a repayment term of 30 years. Lenders want to know you are going to be pay them back! Quitting or changing your job during the loan process, even on the day of closing, is the easiest way to go from being approved to denied.

#3 – Do pay your bills on time!

This one is simple. You are applying for possibly the largest indebtedness you may ever have in your entire life. If the lender sees you cannot pay your current bills on time, how can you expect to pay your mortgage on time? Keep paying your bills as normal, unless told otherwise by your loan professional.

#4 – Do not make any large purchase transactions!

We do not care how good the holiday sale is for your new furniture set. Do not make any large purchases! We must have a certain number of funds verified. If we do not have that amount of funds, we cannot close. Save all your purchases for the home until after closing.

#5 – Do tell us the truth!

Underwriters are detectives and investigators for the lenders. Their job is to protect the lenders money.  They are going to find out everything and anything that you are trying to hide. If you are honest with us, we can put together a game plan to get the loan closed. If you do not, we will not have time to put together a game plan and more than likely will not be closing.

#6 – Do not go cosign on a loan!

If you cosign on a loan, the underwriter is going to view that debt as your debt. Even if you spouse, child, relative or friend is going to be making the payment, we are going to have to hit you for that debt. This will influence your debt-to-income ratio, which could affect your qualification. Do not do it!

#7 – Do keep in contact with us!

We are going to reach out to you daily to weekly depending on where we are at in the loan process. Staying in contact helps us make sure we are all on the same page with our financing. We do not want anything getting lost in translation during the process!

#8 – Do not move money!

Every dollar being used in the transaction is going to be tracked and verified. If you move funds around and we are not able to prove and verify where those funds came from, we cannot use those funds in the transaction. You could have a million dollars in the back, but if we can source the funds, they are not allowed to be used. This is all Patriot Act, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism. If you are going to move any funds, talk to your loan officer first!