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You’re ready to start house hunting, and you know the best first step to take is to get preapproved. What documentation do you need, and how should you go about providing it to your loan officer?
You’ll start with a loan application, but take a moment and gather these documents as well so you can be certain you are entering all of your information correctly.
You should ideally have pulled this a few months before, and not done anything that would adversely affect your credit in the meantime. This gives you a fresh slate so your loan officer can pull your credit report without dropping your score. Knowing your score can help you be prepared and you’ll have peace of mind if there weren’t any nasty surprises.
You’ll also want to be able to accurately state your income, past and present, and your assets accurately. This means making sure you have your tax returns on hand so you can estimate what your annual income is, and your pay stubs to make sure your year-to-date earnings for the current year bear that out.
Make sure you have statements from all of your bank accounts including checking, savings, money market, and investment accounts. If you are applying with a co-borrower, you’ll need to have both sets of information ready.
If you apply through Sammamish Mortgage our smart application system will give you the option of allowing us to pull your bank statements automatically into our system eliminating the needs for actual statements.
If you have an idea of how much you plan on spending for a home and what your down payment will be, you can use our mortgage calculator to estimate your monthly mortgage payment. Add in the rest of your regular monthly debt to get an idea of your debt to income (DTI) ratio.
You can begin filling out your loan application online. All of the information you need should be in your stack of gathered documents. Once you’re finished, you’ll be asked to upload your documentation for preapproval. Make sure you have clean, clearly legible copies of the following for all borrowers:
If you are a self-employed professional, you’ll need the following (if applicable):
If you are a sole proprietor, and simply file a W2 with possibly a schedule C, the last two years’ of those documents including all pages is typically sufficient.
If you are working with a company like Sammamish Mortgage, you’ll be able to simply upload all of your documents into our secure portal by scanning them page by page and saving as a PDF.
Working off the assumption your preapproval will go off without a hitch, and you’ll be home hunting with the intent to make an offer, you may as well gather the rest of your documents needed for final loan approval at the same time. These include:
If you claim any type of retirement, pension, SS income or rental property income, you’ll also need documentation from the last two years to provide as proof.
If you are eligible for a VA loan, you need to provide documentation to that effect to get your pre approval letter.
Once you’ve gathered all of your information, store your paper copies neatly in a large envelope or flat binder. Each month, update documents with the latest new ones, such as:
You may be asked to update these documents in the portal regularly if the loan process causes any of your original documents to age past 60 days.
Are you ready to get preapproved for a mortgage? Don’t be intimidated by the steps required. We can help make the process as easy and stress-free as possible. Get preapproved today!
Sammamish Mortgage has been in business since 1992, and has assisted many home buyers in the Pacific Northwest. If you are looking for mortgage financing in Washington State, we can help. Sammamish Mortgage offers mortgage programs in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Contact us if you have any mortgage-related questions or concerns. If you are ready to move forward, you can view rates, obtain a customized instant rate quote, or apply instantly directly from our website.
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No Obligation and transparency 24/7. Instantly compare live rates and costs from our network of lenders across the country. Real-time accurate rates and closing costs for a variety of loan programs custom to your specific situation.