Real Estate > The Loan Process

1. You’ll gather the information necessary – see the Loan Application Checklist.

2. You'll sign a general authorization form allowing me to order your credit report.

3. You’ll meet with your friendly loan consultant and will turn in the paperwork you’ve put together. We will fill out a 4 page loan application, and you will be asked to sign disclosures required by the lender regarding privacy policies, nondiscrimination policies, etc. At this time you need to choose the company that will provide your homeowner’s (hazard) insurance. It is your job to shop for the best rate, and then let me know what company you have selected. You do not need to purchase anything over the phone, simply compare the rates and policies. You will be asked to sign the “good faith estimate” and the “truth in lending” disclosures regarding the costs of buying the home. These forms are the bulk of the loan application. This meeting will take between one and two hours.

4. I will pull together all of your information and I’ll order the title report, the hazard insurance binder and the appraisal. It generally takes about 7-10 days to receive these. Once I have all of the information, I submit the complete file to the lender. (I can shop from about 50 different lenders in order to find the best program for you as well as the best rates.)

5. At the lender, the file gets in line for “underwriting”. The underwriter double-checks everything to be sure that the loan submitted meets the guidelines for the specific loan desired. At this point the lender will probably issue “conditions”. These will vary depending upon the documentation submitted: for example, they may request another pay stub, bank statement, etc. We will provide them the additional information requested and wait for clearance to “order the documents”. This means that all of the information submitted is final, and that documents will be drawn up and sent to the escrow company.

6. Escrow receives the documents and prepares them for your signing appointment. The Escrow office will telephone you to set up a convenient appointment and off you go to sign! Once you’ve signed all the papers, the documents are sent back to the lender for a final review, and then we are cleared to “fund”. This is when the transfer of funds occurs between you, your lender and the seller. The transaction is recorded at the county courthouse, the escrow company receives the “recording numbers” – and your transaction is complete!

7. Most real estate transactions are structured such that possession of the new property occurs at 9:00 PM on the day of closing.