STEP-BY-STEP MORTGAGE GUIDE
Provided by Freddie Mac, in this guide, you will learn about one of the most important steps in the homebuying process—obtaining a mortgage. The materials in this guide will take you from application to closing, and they’ll even address the first months of homeownership to show you the kinds of things you need to do to keep your home. Knowing what to expect will give you the confidence you need to make the best decisions about your home purchase.
CHECKLIST FOR LOAN APPLICANTS
When you apply for a loan, you typically need to provide quite a bit of information to your lender. This allows your lender to verify your income and assets. Start gathering this information when you decide to buy a home so that your mortgage application processing will go as quickly as possible. This checklist will help you pull together what you need:
- W-2 forms from the previous two years, if you collect a paycheck
- Recent paycheck stubs (30 days)
- Federal tax returns for the past two years (include all schedules and pages)
- Most recent 2-months bank statements, all pages (please do not send screen shots)
- Most recent 401K statement, if applicable
MORTGAGE CALCULATOR
The mortgage calculator is a tool made available estimating a sales price and payments that might work for an individual homebuyer. All calculations are theoretical only, and actual amounts may be higher or lower depending on a variety of factors. The calculator was developed by a third-part and accuracy is not guaranteed. To help better address your mortgage payment questions, we recommend contacting one of our loan officers regarding you home loan needs.
MAINTAIN YOUR FICO SCORE
Your FICO score is what most lenders use to calculate your credit risk. They use it to decide whether to offer credit to potential borrowers and at what interest rate.
It is made up of 5 elements:
- Payment History: (35% of the total credit score) Included is the borrower’s payment history with the repayment of past debt the most important factor.
- Credit Utilization: (30% of the total credit score) This is the percentage of available credit that has been borrowed.
- Length of Credit History: (15% of the total credit score) This is the length of time each account has been open and the length of time since the account’s most recent action.
- New Credit: (10% of the total credit score) Borrowers should avoid opening too many credit lines at the same time.
- Credit Mix: (10% of the total credit score) This is the combination of different types of credit such as revolving and installment.
Tips for Maintaining or Repairing Your FICO Credit Score:
- Check your credit report to make sure that there is no incorrect information in it such as late payments incorrectly listed and that amounts owed are correct. If there are errors, dispute them with the credit bureau.
- Setup payment reminders. Making payments on time is one of the most important factors in calculating the credit score.
- Consider enrolling in automatic payments through your credit card and loan providers to have payments debited from your bank account to ensure that payments are timely.
- Reduce your amount of debt. The first step is to stop using your credit cards. Analyze what accounts are charging the highest interest rates and attach paying those off first.
HUD HOMEBUYER'S TOOLKIT
To help protect consumers, the Consumer Protection Bureau has developed this toolkit to assist homebuyers in the home-buying process. This publication will help you make the most of your mortgage, and help you decide on the best home loan product for you.
