For some in Dallas, the housing crisis has created an unprecedented opportunity to buy. For others, the economic crash is making them think twice about ever wanting to buy again. But with the Dallas housing market warming up again, we’re here to make the mortgage process as painless and simple as possible — no matter where you land on the buying spectrum.
You could essentially boil down our process to three aspects: education, education, and education. Okay—there’s also a ton of paperwork and verification checks and the actual process of finding the home. But our goal is to spend as much time as is needed with our loan applicants to make sure they know what they’re looking for, the best way to find and pay for it, what the forms they’re filling out mean, and how the house will effect their long term future.
So let’s take a look at our loan process. Basically, it takes seven steps:
1. The home loan application process
This step is more or less a mix of getting all the documents in order, from application forms to credit reports to explanation letters about your situation and ability to repay the mortgage loan. This is for both your good and ours, as it doesn’t help either of us for you to have a loan that will cause you trouble down the road. Once a pre-approval letter with conditions is presented to you, the fun part (house hunting) can finally begin.
We’ll refer you to a realtor, making sure you get a thorough understanding of the varying housing markets around the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. We’ll then get a contract started, walk you through the appraisal process, and lock in the mortgage rate.
This step is where we basically make sure that no one is getting defrauded. This means surveys, appraisals, verifications of employment and funds, etc. This is also the time to get a homeowner’s insurance quote, and certify all taxes. It’s a lot, but we’ll help you stay on top of it all.
This step is all about gaining underwriter approval for the loan, but includes more documentation, tax and background checks, insurance work, and sorting out the myriad fees, dues, and appraisal values. Take a deep breath—you’re almost there.
5. Setting a home closing date
Once all the above steps are completed, a closing date is set after consulting with you and the title company (plus a few more minor crossings of Ts and dottings of Is).
6. Signing your home loan at the title company
After reviewing all the numbers one more time, a closing statement is ready to sign.
The funds are released. Congratulations!