THE LOAN PROCESS

Perhaps the major ongoing activity in most purchases is the loan process. It begins when you “pre-qualify” so you can learn roughly how much of a loan you can qualify for. It concludes sometimes thirty years later, when you celebrate making you final payment (although statistically most of us will have lived in five more houses, with seven more loans, in that thirty years).

You need to prepare yourself for your loan process. Since the Savings and Loan scandal scarred the American economy many years back, lenders have become more cautious and demanding. You will probably be asked to provide a great deal of documented information about yourself and your financial history. Because the process can be demanding, you need to try to identify a lender who you trust; who you feel comfortable working with; and who knows what he or she is doing, so the process is organized and the demands on you are minimized. Yu should also be aware that some lenders are very much specialized in the type of loans they offer. Others are more diversified and creative. So, if one lender paints a bleak picture, don’t give up. Look for alternatives, because there is a lender out there able to serve nearly every Buyer.

The lender or lenders you initially contact can detail the loan process for you. It is so dynamic and so diverse that I dare not try to speak much “lenderese” personally. But, I do want to introduce you to Step One in the process: Pre-qualifying, or better yet, securing an early loan commitment. A brief phone call to nearly any lender is all that is necessary, and I’ve never heard of there being any cost or obligation to you. The purpose of this initial step, as I suggested earlier, is to get an educated idea of how much you can borrow.

While I do not endorse any particular lender, I can offer the following names of companies with people who have positive reputations with myself and other agents in our office, and most importantly other Buyers. I recommend you contact more than one, so that you will have loan information to compare. Ask each for a Good Faith Estimate, which will pretty much enable you to compare “apples to apples”. And let me emphasize one critical point: the “best deal isn’t necessarily the cheapest”. I have learned the hard way. I am convinced “trust” and “comfort” are the most vital components of a successful loan experience.

Cynthia Williams