Mortgage Application: Step By Step

At Altius Mortgage and our partners at Mortgage Ogden, we’ll help walk you through every step of what can be a complex mortgage process. Home loans are some of the largest expenses you’ll undertake in your life, and you need to be confident about every step you take in this direction.

For those who have never done it before, let’s lay out exactly what these specific steps will entail. Here are the general stages of the mortgage application process, from start to finish.

Filling Out Application

The first step is filling out the application itself, and our mortgage brokers can be of service here. You can supply information by phone or in person while our representatives help you out, and the entire process will likely take under an hour. Most mortgage applications will have about five pages of questions regarding finances, debts, assets, employment, the loan and the property itself.

Reviewing Loan Estimates

If you’ve applied to more than one lender, you can review your options using the Loan Estimate forms. Don’t focus too much on rate, and ask your lender to explain anything you don’t understand here. Compare the total cost in five years, the principal you’ll have paid in five years, the APR (annual percentage rate) and the percent of the money paid in interest you’ll be undertaking over the life of the mortgage.

Choosing and Committing

Once you’ve compared lenders, you can assess all the factors and make your choice. From here, you contact your lender and say you’re ready to move forward.

Loan Processing

The loan processing area is one that will take a couple weeks, and involves confirming all the financial information you provided on your application.

Underwriting

Similarly, an underwriter is hired to assess the risk of lending money to you based on the property you’re interested in. They’ll check on various financial elements from an objective standpoint, and will also check on the home itself and ensure that it’s properly valued before you purchase it.

Closing

Finally, it’s time for your loan to close. This doesn’t require any action on your part – it’s up to the lender to send a Closing Disclosure, and all you have to do is compare this to your Loan Estimate to make sure none of the important numbers have changed. If they have, you can discuss them with your lender and ensure there wasn’t just a simple error.

For more on the steps to filling out a mortgage application, or to find out about any of our other mortgage services, speak to the pros at Altius Mortgage today.