When Should I Contact a Mortgage Broker?
When Should I Contact a Mortgage Broker?
You found the perfect home! You made the offer! Your Realtor conditioned the offer with financing, a home inspection, and other particulars.
Now you have a few days to arrange for one of the biggest commitments in your life, and you will no doubt have a lot going on. Time to call a mortgage broker right?
Wrong!
The mortgage process does not have to be stressful, like anything else you can take a few steps to ensure a smooth process from home search to offer to removing that sticky financing condition and finally moving into your new home.
Get pre-approved. You have no doubt used one of the hundreds of online calculators to determine how much you can afford and are looking at houses in your price range. But there are some things these calculators do not take into account such as: credit score, income types, property taxes, condo fees, etc. A pre-approval will be vetted by a mortgage professional and confirmed by a lender to provide you with not only a more accurate maximum mortgage amount, but also a guaranteed interest rate.
Start collecting documents as early as possible. After the pre-approval, your broker should immediately start communicating regarding the documents required to secure an actual approval when it comes time. In fact, all a pre-approval does for you is guarantee you a rate, nothing else.
Ensure your Mortgage Broker and Realtor are in communication this can avoid timely delays or misunderstandings.
Research and decide on a Lawyer early in the process so that time is not wasted in between the time you make an offer, and the condition removal date (the date you need to be officially approved for a loan by).
In short, contact a broker as the start of your process. This will ensure a smooth process, and we can even refer you to trustworthy industry professionals such a Realtors, Lawyers, and Appraisers.
Best of luck in your home search!
Cameron
