Home Mortgages - Applying for a Home Mortgage

A Home Buying Article Contributed by Mark Vanner

Home Mortgages - Pre-Qualification.

Before applying for a home mortgage you need to evaluate your financial situation and work out exactly what price range of houses you can afford. To help you with this, it is a good idea to approach a number of mortgage lenders who will be able to advise you on the highest loan amount you may qualify for by analyzing your current income and financial history. This will also help clarify the range of mortgage prices you may qualify for, saving you time spent viewing properties that are over your budget.

Home Mortgages - Applying for a Mortgage.

Once you have chosen the property you wish to purchase and have found a mortgage lender who you feel will benefit you the most, the next step is to apply for your home mortgage loan. Assuming you have signed a purchase contract with your chosen lender you now need to apply for credit approval.

For many people credit approval can be a worrying experience but if you have already gone through the process of pre-qualification you should be quite confident that the property you have chosen will be in your price range. During credit approval your income, credit history and ability to meet mortgage repayments will be assessed.

To help the process run smoothly, you should take with you the signed purchase contract, verification of income such as wage documents and proof of assets like bank account statements to the credit approval interview. Most likely you will then be asked to complete the Uniform Residential Loan Application which is now common place when applying for a mortgage and can sometimes prove to be a costly affair as you may have to pay a credit report fee, application fee and finally an appraisal fee.

After this process is completed you will now have to wait from anywhere up to eight weeks to discover whether your application has been successful or not.

Mortgage Approved - Closing.

After your home mortgage loan has been approved, you will arrange a closing date with your mortgage lender. During the closing meeting you will officially become the new owner of your chosen property as the deed to the house is passed from the seller to yourself and your mortgage becomes active. At this time you may also wish to have your attorney present throughout the settlement to oversee the proceedings. Also present at the closing maybe the seller, closing agent and estate agent.

Before the closing is complete you will be asked to sign a number of documents which include HUD-1 Settlement Statement, Truth-In-Lending Statement, the mortgage, the Promissory Note, the deed and the affidavits. After these have been completed you will be required to pay your closing costs so it is recommended that you bring along a check book. The costs you will be asked to cover include the remainder of your down payment, closing fee's and prepaid finance charges.

After the documents have been signed and your payments are made, as you are now the official new owner, you will be given the keys to your property.