The first step to home buying is to connect with a lender and get preapproved for a loan. It is a time-consuming and challenging process due to the amount of documentation that we will require to get you preapproved.
Your diligence in providing us what we will need will pay off when it comes time to submit a purchase offer. Real estate agents always encourage including a mortgage preapproval letter to add strength to the offer. Once you have an accepted offer on a home, satisfying your loan contingency will then be much easier.
For most conventional and FHA loans, here are several of the documents that you will need to submit for a preapproval: a state or federally issued ID, proof of income in the form of pay stubs or W-2s, your two most recent federal tax returns, the last two statements for bank and investment accounts, any settlement statement of a recent home sale, a gift letter for any down payment assistance, any marriage settlement agreements and a letter of explanation for any questionable items on your credit history.
For self-employed home buyers, we will also request two years of 1099s and company tax returns, two months of profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet and your current business license.
As your lender, our goal is to keep the mortgage preapproval process as streamlined as possible. We can guide you in the document-gathering process to make sure you have what you need. Call or email us today. We are always here and ready to help.