Welcome to What’s A Mortgage!
The first step to successful homeownership starts here…
You’ve come to the right place! The financial decision to purchase or refinance a home comes with tons of questions and concerns that WAM has the answers to. We provide this free information because we believe that anyone can be a successful homeowner with our guidance. Whether you’re purchasing or refinancing a home, the resources below are the perfect place to start and are just a few examples of all the tools we provide. Don’t hesitate to explore our site for more helpful content. We’re looking forward to getting to know you fam!
Step 1: The complete home buying process
First Time Homebuyers
Buying a home is the biggest investment of your life that’s beneficial for your family and your wallet. Completing the
home buying process with little mistakes is necessary to becoming a successful homeowner. The more you understand
the process, the closer you are to accessing all the benefits of homeownership. The key to the entire home buying
journey is to fall in love with the payment before you fall in love with the house. Keep this in mind as you go over each
step of the process so you know what to expect! Read More
Find a lender
Before you start browsing the internet for homes or scheduling tours, find a lender you like and trust. A trustworthy lender is transparent about their mortgage license, rates and fees. They should give you options and offer underwritten approvals. Getting pre-approved with a lender first secures your budget so you know how much you can realistically afford. Don’t burst your own bubble by finding your dream home FIRST, only to realize you can’t afford it after talking to a lender.
Find a realtor
Finding a house you like in today’s market is easy given all the available home search websites. The key is to find a reliable realtor that knows how to negotiate during a seller’s market and will maximize your budget. They will do all the talking with the seller to make sure you get the best deal. A good realtor will also know the costs and improvements needed if you choose a new build.
Find a house, open escrow
Determine your purchase price, negotiate terms and clear your earnest money deposit check. Tell your agent not to release your contingencies. The inspections contingency makes sure the house is functional and ready to move into. The appraisal contingency verifies the value of the home and passes your loan program’s requirements. The loan contingency secures the agreed seller/buyer purchase price. Send the EMD check for clearance after the purchase price is set. After it clears, open escrow. This gives you time to either lock your loan or float down the rate once within 60 days of opening escrow.
Initiate approval
Your lender will send out disclosures and a loan estimate. The buyer will sign initial disclosures and send updated conditions to get approval. Appraisal, home inspection and termite inspection are ordered. *Locking your loan is an option in this step.*
Conditional approval, clear conditions
Clear title, escrow and appraisal. Then, clear your credit, income and assets. If the home doesn’t appraise, start negotiating. *Locking your loan is an option in this step.*
Lock your loan, review disclosure and closing documents
After you lock your loan, the mortgage bank will issue a closing disclosure before the loan documents go out. Make sure everything on the disclosure matches your loan estimate. If it doesn’t, there’s a 3 day cooling period to make changes before loan documents are sent out.
Sign loan documents
Sign your loan and escrow documents with a notary approved by the title company present.
Bring in your money, do a final walkthrough
Be careful of wire fraud! Only wire money to an account that’s been verified by your lender.
Fund your loan, record and get your keys!
Your loan is funded after your conditions clear and they receive your money. Then, it all gets recorded either same day or the following business day (check your county) and you get the keys to your dream home!
Step 2: Fall in love with the payment before you fall in love with the house...
LIVE STREAM: Secret to Budgeting a Mortgage Payment
That’s the best advice I give to home buyers who ask me where to start. Once you’re familiar with the process, the first step of the homebuying journey starts with understanding your mortgage budget. In this video I teach you how to identify your mortgage budget and how to manage your mortgage budget.
