what happens after you get approved for a loan 4 a home?

blondieblue227

are they supposed to give you an official quote on the amount on paper?

i can't be the first person to go to two different loan officers to get the best deal??

one says the amount i'm good for but i don't have documentation. the other won't say the amount, only that i'm approved for a loan.

who's the dummy here, me or them?

81

i don't remember all the details, but you should get something that says you are approved for X amount

how can they approve you and not give you an amount :?:

blondieblue227

yeah that's what i thought too 81.

i mean he has given me a paper with different amounts just to see how different downpayments play out. but that same guy has not said one particular price.
other guy did thou. i just need to get it in writing.
i should get it writing correct?

81 wrote:

how can they approve you and not give you an amount :?:

right!
and then he makes feel stupid for asking the amount. like i'm the dummy.
and how can i look for a home if i don't know the price range?

DS1119

blondieblue227 wrote:

yeah that's what i thought too 81.

i mean he has given me a paper with different amounts just to see how different downpayments play out. but that same guy has not said one particular price.
other guy did thou. i just need to get it in writing.
i should get it writing correct?

81 wrote:

how can they approve you and not give you an amount :?:

right!
and then he makes feel stupid for asking the amount. like i'm the dummy.
and how can i look for a home if i don't know the price range?

Did you go directly to a bank each time or was the guy who wouldn't give you the amount a mortgage broker? When I bought my first home I tried a mortgage broker first and they didn't seem to be on the up and up to me. Next I went to a few different banks and a credit union and they seemed to be a lot more straight forward with me. I ultimately chose a credit union. Certainly once your pre-approved you should know the amount without a doubt. Heck, a lot of real estate agents won't even want to deal with anyone who isn't pre-approved for a mortgage, at least in the area I was living in. Good luck BTW!

amethgr8

honestly, that has changed in the last 3-5 years, since the whole financial fallout.

I'm finding in the real estate industry that banks, credit unions are very reluctant to give out pre-approvals these days. in the past you could just call them and they would email it.

I see this I think for 2 reasons: more people are price shopping and loan officers don't want to "waste" time unless someone will commit; also, the underwriters are more restrictive now dotting their I's and crossing their T's and loan officers don't want to commit to have underwriting say "no, not on this loan with this credit score/history/length of employ".

you can find home affordability calculators and put in your income, debt, different downpayments etc to find out how much you can afford.

just saying.

amy

mickeyrat

He might be on vacation right now, but PM The Juggler. He's into mortgages. I'm sure he'd answer any questions you might have.

blondieblue227

well see that's what makes it so confusing. they both say "you've been approved for a loan." but haven't given the amount on paper.

i got both quotes from a bank.

Heck, a lot of real estate agents won't even want to deal with anyone who isn't pre-approved for a mortgage, at least in the area I was living in

that's what i'm thinking!

so amy, people can't compare to see the best deal now, because loan officers are to afraid/lazy/etc to state a price? bull.
calculators or not, you still need the actual loan.

DS1119

blondieblue227 wrote:

so amy, people can't compare to see the best deal now, because loan officers are to afraid/lazy/etc to state a price? bull.
calculators or not, you still need the actual loan.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about that point from Amy, but then again the home I bought was 8 ears ago and things have definately changed since then. I look at it this way. Banks do want to loan you money...that's how they earn their money so I really don't see a reason you couldn't get a soft commitment of the amount of a loan. I do know after you choose your home they are going to appraise it to make sure it lines up with the approval amount but there's no reason not to know beforehand. Now that I think about it, all of the real estate agents I talked with when I bought my house their first question was if I was pre-approved for a mortgage.

blondieblue227

first question was if I was pre-approved for a mortgage.

yes but did they need to know the amount you were approved for?

i'm still not getting the big picture here.

guy who told me the amount just sent me an email with a lower amount than he originally said. ??
BUT i think he's adjusting the amount so i can have a reasonable monthly payment.

at least he gave me an amount in B&W.

RKCNDY

I would ask "up to what amount am I approved for?"

THEN you can look for a house in your price range...that's asinine to say "you're pre-approved" make you go look for a place, and then you find a place you like, and then they come back and say, "oh, but not for THAT much"

best of luck, it's a buyer's market!

blondieblue227

RKCNDY wrote:

I would ask "up to what amount am I approved for?"

oh.... 'up to' okkkk. i get it.

amethgr8

there's two sides to a loan. the inital loan officer and then there's their underwriting department. a very experienced loan officer, both experienced in the field and experienced with the underwriters they use. if they are experienced in both, they will usually give a "conditional" loan commitment in writing (a soft commitment) it states "we will give you the loan, as long as you meet our conditions"

I've seen it both ways, reluctance to put in writing and very much in writing. It varies. More national lenders like PNC, BOA, Chase, PHH, etc., their underwriters are not typically in the same building and for Indiana, maybe in central IL or even out in TX. the loan officer puts in all your income, debt etc into an electronic form and then hits a "submit" (or something similar) to submit the preliminary loan to their underwriters. the underwriting dept looks it over, signs off or issues additional conditions. Some loan officers have their underwriting dept located in the same building and thus it's easier to get a commitment.

I'm just saying I've seen more of a variance in lenders ability to put loan commits in writing vs. a few years ago when when they were handing them out via phone conversations and passing them out like hotcakes.

you maybe able to "shop" a loan term and rate against another but it might be harder. Alot of my market is 1st home buyers and so the interest rates and closing costs are pretty much the same wherever you go, based on downpayment and credit score.

if you're putting 20% down and have a credit score over 800, a lender maybe more willing to try and "buy" your busines with a great reate and term.

amy

RKCNDY

blondieblue227 wrote:

yes but did they need to know the amount you were approved for?

i'm still not getting the big picture here.

guy who told me the amount just sent me an email with a lower amount than he originally said. ??
BUT i think he's adjusting the amount so i can have a reasonable monthly payment.

at least he gave me an amount in B&W.

real estate agents don't need to know 'how much' you were approved for. If you tell them the amount, they will want to make you spend it all. We told our agent we were pre-approved, and were looking for a house in the $XX range (half of what we were approved for).

blondieblue227

i see

i'm finally getting it. thanks peeps!

so how do i decide who to go with?

once again, was i a weirdo to talk to two loan officers?

RKCNDY

blondieblue227 wrote:

so how do i decide who to go with?

I guess the way you are going, find a place you like, get the terms from both banks, and get the best rate.
Also, do you know what type of loan you are going to go with? fixed, ARM, balloon, 80/20?

DS1119

blondieblue227 wrote:

i see

i'm finally getting it. thanks peeps!

so how do i decide who to go with?

once again, was i a weirdo to talk to two loan officers?

I would say go with your gut and who you feel the most confortable with (APR and loan terms being close). The credit union I chose is small (2 offices) and I actually got to know a lot of the employees there. Their branch was located two stores down from where I worked so I would actually bring my mortgage payment to them every month. It was kind of cool.

DS1119

RKCNDY wrote:

blondieblue227 wrote:

so how do i decide who to go with?

I guess the way you are going, find a place you like, get the terms from both banks, and get the best rate.
Also, do you know what type of loan you are going to go with? fixed, ARM, balloon, 80/20?

Do NOT let them talk you into an ARM or balloon. :fp:

blondieblue227

RKCNDY wrote:

I guess the way you are going, find a place you like, get the terms from both banks, and get the best rate.
Also, do you know what type of loan you are going to go with? fixed, ARM, balloon, 80/20?

i have no clue yet. i'll get there soon thou on that decision.
see, that's what i kinda thought in the beginning. i don't have to pick what bank just yet. first find a home THEN say what each bank says. then choose. still helps to have a ballpark amount to go looking with thou.
now why didn't somebody just say that to begin with?! and i'm not talking about here, the pj board.
lol! gotta simplify it for me. the blonde, first time home buyer.

DS1119

blondieblue227 wrote:

RKCNDY wrote:

I guess the way you are going, find a place you like, get the terms from both banks, and get the best rate.
Also, do you know what type of loan you are going to go with? fixed, ARM, balloon, 80/20?

i have no clue yet. i'll get there soon thou on that decision.
see, that's what i kinda thought in the beginning. i don't have to pick what bank just yet. first find a home THEN say what each bank says. then choose. still helps to have a ballpark amount to go looking with thou.
now why didn't somebody just say that to begin with?! and i'm not talking about here, the pj board.
lol! gotta simplify it for me. the blonde, first time home buyer.

Many of us have been there...except for the blonde part. Like Mickey said, shoot the Juggler a PM. I've seen him give some pretty sound advice around here about this type of stuff.

blondieblue227

lol!
the whole range aspect is what i was not understanding. i get it now. hope i do.

DS1119 wrote:

Do NOT let them talk you into an ARM or balloon. :fp:

ok, thanks for the advice.

amethgr8

there is a pretty large percentage of agents that wil push and try to direct the sale into what THEY think you should buy. I've had people call me with such requests, not pushy, let us see what, when want to see it.

most agents think since they have access to all the information they can control what you buy and ultimately their paycheck. I sell real estate because I think buyers should have an honest, hardworkin shot at what they want, be able to reach their real estate agent anytime and make their own decision as they go through the process.

try to find an agent that will listen to and let you see what they see so you can be as informed as they are about the market in which you will be purchasing.

honestly, I like to have buyers already initiated the process of pre-approval, they don't have to show me the letter but I need to be able to take their word for it, and usually do.

as far as your loan...if it's and FHA loan most banks sell those anyway to US bank or a number of other national lender servicers on the secondary market so they can get their money back and loan it to someone else. I don't think there will be that much of a difference in the interest rates or closing costs because FHA is pretty much a straightforward loan package.

amy

blondieblue227

yup. i hear ya.

i don't want to be suckered into anything.
honestly i don't trust them to tell me what i can afford after what's happened to the market. i thought they were supposed to be putting a stop to that anyway?
oh well, i still don't/wouldn't trust them.

if it's and FHA loan most banks sell those anyway to US bank or a number of other national lender servicers on the secondary market so they can get their money back and loan it to someone else. I don't think there will be that much of a difference in the interest rates or closing costs because FHA is pretty much a straightforward loan package.

good to know.
so yes. yes, it was silly of me to go to two of them.

RKCNDY

DS1119 wrote:

Many of us have been there...except for the blonde part.

I'm blonde! :evil:


with the FHA, you will also need to pay into PMI-Private Mortgage Insurance (well, we did) since we bought the house before the bubble, we were able to re-fi at a lower rate a few years later, gain enough equity in the house to drop the PMI and got a refund of all the fees we paid.

PMI-Private Mortgage Insurance=since you are a new/first time home owner, you need to buy loan insurance in case you default on your loan. Once you gain 20% equity in the property, you no longer have to carry the insurance, and if you gain the equity within a certain time period (3-5 years) you can drop it, and get all the money you pain into it back. (this is the case at least in my state)

blondieblue227

thanks for the lowdown RKCNDY.

DS1119

RKCNDY wrote:

DS1119 wrote:

Many of us have been there...except for the blonde part.

I'm blonde! :evil:

Enoguh said.

RKCNDY

DS1119 wrote:

RKCNDY wrote:

DS1119 wrote:

Many of us have been there...except for the blonde part.

I'm blonde! :evil:

Enoguh said.

:fp: If only you really knew...

DS1119

RKCNDY wrote:

:fp: If only you really knew...

I guess I don't know.

chadwick

DS1119 wrote:

RKCNDY wrote:

:fp: If only you really knew...

I guess I don't know.

you aren't the only one