Financing Your Home

Financing is an important aspect to buying a home. When shopping for a mortgage, consult a few financing companies. Each company will offer different programs and rates. Find a company and program that best fits your financial situation.

Your lender’s job is to understand your particular financial circumstances completely. It is important to provide complete information about your financial history to your loan officer. To facilitate this process, we have included a loan application checklist that you can download. This is a general guideline to help prepare you for your first meeting with the loan officer. By providing complete information, you prevent closing delays or extra trips to deliver documents.

Once you have given all preliminary information to your loan officer, your lender will provide you with a Good Faith Estimate. The Good Faith Estimate lists the estimated costs you will incur at closing. Some of the numbers listed on this form are prorations, subject to change based on the actual date of closing. Others are set fees that should remain the same.

Between the time your loan is approved and the date of your closing, remember that any significant changes in your financial circumstances could impact your loan approval. If your closing occurs more than 120 days after the lender issues your loan approval, the lender may order an additional credit report just prior to the closing date.

It is important to note that changes in your financial circumstances, for example, purchasing a new car or increases in your credit card will appear as a new liability on your updated credit report. Such changes may cause your lender to reconsider your approval or delay closing. Holding off on such purchases until after closing is both prudent and highly recommended.