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Number 4 – Arrange Your Personal Financial Information in Advance
Raise your hand if you have had to qualify for a home loan before. For those who have their hands raised, you already know the drill and how impersonal, probing and detailed it can become. You have found your dream home, you envision holidays, birthdays, weddings, hopes, dreams, family, friends, love and happiness. Then the screech and collision of qualifying for a home loan meets the dream. A little advance preparation will do wonders for getting one ready for the reality of what to face as well as smooth the process for all parties concerned.
The list provided below is what I recommend first time or anytime buyers to prepare in advance of looking for a home and certainly in advance of talking to a mortgage broker. This information combined with your credit scores and reports, puts you in a distinct advantage when discussing loan packages available, requirements necessary to complete a loan package and time savings if critical to the completion of the purchase. In addition, and maybe even most importantly, having prepared all of this in advance creates the accurate perception by your team of professionals representing you, that you are serious about purchasing a home. I will assure you, commissioned professionals get real serious with people that make their jobs easier and don’t waste their time.
· Last two years of tax returns.
· Financial statement prepared by an accountant if possible.
· If renting, copy of lease and twelve months of cancelled checks showing rent payments on time.
· Copies of last two months utility bills.
· Photocopies of drivers license and social security card.
· The final purchase contract for the house (if applicable).
· If you're self-employed, the mortgage company may require your personal and business tax returns for the previous two years and your company's year-to-date Profit and Loss statement.
· Divorce settlement papers, if applicable
· Updated account statements for listed assets in the application that may have changed in value.
· Information about debts or credit report items that may have been delinquent or not accurate.
· Evidence of your mortgage payments, such as canceled checks.
· An irrevocable gift letter if you are receiving a monetary gift from a relative.
· Your bank account numbers and the address of your bank branch, along with checking and savings account statements for the previous 2-3 months.
· Last two pay stubs, W2 withholding forms, tax returns for two years, or other proof of employment and income verification.
· Credit card bills for the past few billing periods, or canceled checks for rent to show payment history and amount of revolving debt.
· Information on other consumer debt such as car loans, furniture loans, student loans and retail credit cards.
Organize and place all of this information in a three ring binder with labeled dividers. Make three copies, one for your mortgage broker and two additional copies, one for yourself and one extra in case it is needed (which more than likely will happen).
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