Stacey Shaw

To start the mortgage process you want to start collecting and sending us the following documents:

• Your Last 2 Years Tax Returns
• Your Last 2 Years W2s or 1099s
• Your Last 2 Paystubs or Leave & Earnings Statements (VA Borrowers)
• Your Last 2 Months Bank Statements (Checking/Savings/Retirement)
• Copy of a Government Issued ID

One mistake that home buyers commonly make is not getting a pre-approval. Many home buyers believe that a pre-qualification is the same as a pre-approval. This is actually the furthest from the truth.

A mortgage pre-qualification can easily be defined as an estimation of how much a buyer can borrow. In many cases a pre-qualification is only as good as the piece of paper that it’s written on. It’s fairly common practice that a mortgage lender who pre-qualifies a buyer asks them for information such as income, debts, and other assets without verifying the information. If a buyer is not truthful or makes a mistake when giving the information this can lead to problems in the future when the mortgage is verified by an underwriter.

A mortgage pre-approval is what every home buyer should obtain prior to looking at homes. A mortgage pre-approval can be easily defined as a written commitment for a buyer from a mortgage lender. To obtain a mortgage pre-approval a buyer will be required to provide the same documents that are required when formally applying for a mortgage, such as w-2’s, pay stubs, and bank statements.

There are many reasons why a mortgage pre-approval is better than a mortgage pre-qualification. Two of the most important reasons why a pre-approval is better than a pre-qualification are;

• Helps buyers beat out competition in multiple offer scenario or strong sellers market
• Gives “peace of mind” to a seller when submitting offer that the mortgage will be approved

A very common home buying misconception that exists is that a buyer needs a boatload of money to purchase a home. This is not always the case. When a buyer asks about the amount of money needed to buy a home, the best answer is that it depends.

Like mentioned above, the amount needed for a down payment will vary from one mortgage product to another. There are other costs though involved in purchasing a home that many buyers don’t realize. In addition to the down payment, buyers also need to consider costs such as an appraisal cost, home inspection cost, and other various costs.

It should be noted though that there are loan programs available for qualifying borrowers that require no-down payment and combined with negotiated seller paid closing costs means NO MONEY needed at closing.

While many large banks and mortgage lenders require 30-45 days or more to close a loan, Alpha Mortgage can close a loan in 15 business days with most loan programs.