FAQ

Pre-qualification means you talk with a loan officer and answer some questions. It’s a quick overview, and we don’t look at your documents. The loan officer might take an application and, based on what you say, decide you’re pre-qualified.Pre-approval goes deeper. We pull your credit, collect your income papers, check your bank statements, and make sure everything adds up. Then we run it through an underwriting system (like Desktop Underwriter), and if the results look good, you’re pre-approved.

Fannie Mae says that all your monthly payments—like your car loan, credit cards, and your new mortgage—should be less than half of what you make each month.

A loan officer can give you an estimate of how much you might qualify for, but it’s always better to do a full pre-approval to be sure. The mortgage process is strict and a bit complex, so going through the full steps is the best way to know exactly how much you can get.

If you get a W-2 from your job, you’ll need your last two pay stubs, W-2s from the last 2 years, and your last two bank statements showing where your down payment and closing costs will come from.If you're self-employed or own rental homes, the list might be different—so it’s best to talk with a loan officer to get the exact documents you'll need.

A pre-approval letter includes your credit report, income papers, and bank statements. When those documents expire, the pre-approval does too. Most pre-approval letters are good for 30 to 90 days, depending on how the market is doing.

Pre-qualification usually uses a soft credit pull, which doesn’t affect your score. But if you want a full pre-approval, we have to do a hard credit pull. That’s because the underwriting systems only work with full credit reports.

FHA loans need a credit score of at least 580. Conventional loans need a score of at least 620.

For conventional loans, all your monthly payments—including the new mortgage—should be no more than 45% of your monthly income.For FHA loans, your house payment can be up to 46%, and everything together (house, car, credit cards, etc.) can go up to 56%.

We offer Conventional, FHA, and VA loans. We also specialize in Non-QM mortgages like bank statement loans, DSCR loans, 1099 loans, and P&L mortgages.

Most people agree that adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were one of the reasons for the 2008 housing crash. We strongly suggest that clients look at all their options carefully before choosing an ARM loan.

Yes, we offer 15-, 20-, and 30-year loans. But we can also do custom terms like 27 years. This helps if someone has already owned the home for a few years and doesn’t want to start a brand-new 30-year loan—they can just finish out the rest.

Usually, the longer the loan, the more interest you’ll end up paying. That’s why many of our clients choose to refinance into a 15-year loan—it helps them pay off their home faster and avoid paying interest to the bank for 30 years.

Yes—both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have programs for first-time homebuyers. The best way to know which one fits you is to talk with a licensed loan officer, since the programs have different rules like income limits or area restrictions.

Interest rates change every day—and sometimes more than once a day. To give you an accurate quote, we’d need to pull your credit and calculate your debt-to-income ratio.But the good news is, our website has a “Rates” section that shows live rates from five of our partner banks. You’re welcome to check it out anytime to see real-time rate info.

The APR includes your closing costs spread out over 30 years. This helps you compare two different mortgages better. When you look at the APR, you’re not just seeing the interest rate—you’re also seeing how much the closing costs add to the loan. That makes it easier to compare your real costs.

We don’t charge a fee to lock your rate, but we strongly suggest waiting until you’re under contract on a home before locking. We can lock your rate anywhere from 1 week to 90 days. Just keep in mind—the longer the lock, the higher the cost or interest rate might be.

Yes, there’s usually a fee to extend a rate lock. But in many cases, the bank will waive that fee for us.

Yes, some banks offer a “float-down” option, but it comes with rules. The rate has to drop by a certain amount within a certain time. If rates are falling, you might want to wait until they hit bottom. Just remember—every refinance comes with a cost, so it’s smart not to refinance too often.

We offer a 12-month rate drop guarantee. If rates drop within a year and it makes sense for you to refinance, we’ll waive our lender fees. You can find more details on our Guarantees page.

Yes, you can pay to lower your interest rate. The cost depends on how much lower you want your rate to be. The lower the rate, the more it costs to buy it down.One point usually costs about 1% of your loan amount, but the exact cost and how much it lowers your rate depends on the bank and loan program. There’s also a limit to how low your rate can go.We suggest working closely with your loan officer to figure out your break-even point—that’s the moment when your upfront cost pays off and you start saving money. Buying points can be smart, but it’s something to approach carefully.

We try our best not to charge or add extra fees to your loan. The most common fee is the origination fee, which comes from the bank—and we just pass that on to you.We don’t charge many of the usual fees you see in our industry, like application fees, processing fees, lock fees, or doc fees.

Yes, you’ll get a document called a Loan Estimate that shows all the fees in detail. If you’d like, one of our loan offcers can go over it with you line by line to make sure everything is clear.

Our goal is to keep your fees as low as the law allows. We avoid adding extra fees wherever we can. But some costs—by law—must be paid by the buyer, and we’re not allowed to cover them. So no, most fees aren’t negotiable. But we’ve already done everything we can to keep them as low as possible.

Closing costs depend on your loan amount and loan type, but most of the time they’re about 1.5% to 2% of your loan amount. They’re not exactly based on the loan amount—this is just a rough estimate to help you get an idea.

Besides lender fees, a typical mortgage will include an appraisal fee, credit report fee, tax fee, escrow fee, title insurance, county recording fee, and sometimes an HOA fee. You’ll also need to prepay some property taxes and home insurance.

Most mortgages don’t have prepayment penalties—especially if you live in the home. Some non-QM investment loans may have them. It’s an important thing to talk about with your loan officer so you know for sure.

VA loans have the lowest down payment—$0. FHA loans need at least 3.5% down, and conventional loans usually start at 5%. Other loan types, like no-doc investment loans, often need at least 25% down.

Yes, you will have to pay PMI if your down payment is less than 20% on a conventional loan.

The PMI cost depends on how much you put down and what your credit score is. The lower the score or down payment, the higher the premium.

The PMI is typically paid monthly, however you do have the option of buying it out up front.

PMI is usually paid monthly, but you also have the option to pay it all upfront if you prefer.

FHA loans have an upfront mortgage insurance premium (called UFMIP) that gets added to the loan. It’s 1.75% of your loan amount.

If you get an FHA loan with the minimum 3.5% down, the mortgage insurance stays for the life of the loan. But if you put down 10% or more, it can be removed after 11 years (132 months).

Yes. The Patriot Act requires us to verify where your down payment comes from. The bank will ask for your last two months of bank statements, and any large deposits must be explained. If someone gives you gift money, we’ll also need a copy of their bank statement to show where it came from.

Most mortgages usually close in about 30 days. But if our team collects and checks all your documents before you go under contract, things can move much faster. After we get the appraisal—and if there are no issues with the value or HOA—we can often close the loan in just a few days, usually under a week.

We don’t underwrite in-house because we’re true brokers. We send your loan to different banks to find the best fit. This gives you more options, but it also means the underwriting is handled by the bank, not us.

Once we get your loan application, one of our loan officers will review it and send you a list of documents we need. After you send everything in, our team will double-check the info and run the numbers. Then, we’ll aim to issue your pre-approval letter.Right now, it takes our clients about 5.8 days on average to send in all their documents. Once we have everything, it takes us less than one business day to get your pre-approval done.

We order the appraisal after you go under contract and sign the initial disclosures.If the appraisal comes in low, your realtor will work with the seller’s agent to reopen negotiations and try to agree on a new price.

Yes, you’ll get a Loan Estimate within three days of submitting your application.

You’ll get your Closing Disclosure at least 3 days before closing. If you have any questions about the fees or costs listed, we recommend reaching out to us right away so we can walk you through it.

The type of homeowner’s insurance you need depends on the bank and the kind of loan you’re getting.

It’s common to have an escrow account, but it’s not always required.

For a home purchase, you usually pay 14 months of homeowner’s insurance and 3 to 6 months of property taxes upfront into escrow. The exact amount depends on the county you’re in and the month you’re closing.

Yes, that’s an option. Some banks may add a small increase to your interest rate if you choose this. Be sure to ask your loan officer for the details.

Turning in documents late or signing paperwork late can definitely delay your loan closing. It’s important to stay on top of everything your loan officer asks for.

We aim to have a lifetime relationship with our clients, so you’re always welcome to call us—even long after your mortgage is closed.

It’s very common in our industry for mortgages to be sold to different loan servicers from time to time.

You’ll need the last 2 years of personal and business tax returns. You’ll also need either 2 years of business licenses or a letter from your tax preparer saying they’ve done your taxes and you’ve been self-employed for at least 2 years. Some loan programs may also ask for a year-to-date profit and loss statement.

This depends on the loan program. Most banks don’t like it if you’ve changed jobs more than three times in a year. They also don’t like to see your income going down—if last year’s income was higher than this year’s, it can be a red flag.Normally, the underwriter would average your last 2 years of income, but if your income is dropping, they might use a lower number than what you’re actually making now.

You’ll need to sign a special Fannie Mae gift form, and the person giving the gift usually needs to provide a bank statement. In some cases, we can avoid showing the donor’s bank statement—but you’ll need to talk to your loan officer to see if that applies to you.

A divorce decree will need to be shown. We strongly suggest disclosing to your loan officer everything that has taken place in your life in the last seven years, and let the loan officer decide if it is relevant to the mortgage application, and if it can hurt the probability of your approval.

We’re very confident in the interest rates we offer. As a broker, we shop around with several banks to find you the lowest rate.But if you do find another lender with a lower rate and lower closing costs, we have a Rate Match Guarantee. Check out the details on our Guarantees page.

That’s a common concern we hear from buyers. If we fully review your documents and issue a pre-approval, and then the loan doesn’t close because of our mistake, we’ll cover your earnest money deposit and any costs you paid. See our Guarantees page for full details.

If we collect a thorough documentation package and issue a full pre-approval, then we commit to a 17-day closing timeline. Please see our 70-day closing commitment on our Guarantees page.

In our experience, having a solid pre-approval and a reassuring call from a loan officer to the listing agent helps a lot. It shows them your approval is strong.But we take it a step further—we offer a $5,000 Seller Guarantee. If we’ve issued a pre-approval and the loan doesn’t close because of our mistake, we’ll pay the seller $5,000. That can really help make your offer stand out.

We totally get that—moving can be expensive. That’s why we’ve partnered with certain real estate agents. If you work with us for your mortgage and use one of our partner agents, we’ll pay for your moving costs. We have to stay within legal guidelines, so please check our Guarantees page for all the details.

Yes! After your loan closes with us, we use a special system that watches the national average rates. If there’s a chance to lower your rate, you’ll get an automatic email from us. So yes—we babysit your interest rate for life.