Midwest Financial Services, LLC

© 2009 Midwest Financial Services, LLC

Ready for Home ownership?

The home buying process is probably one of the biggest decisions a person or family can make. We try to make the process as easy as possible while informing our customers about the process and things they should know in the future. We have summarized the process in these seven steps.

1. First thing you should do is apply for financing. It is better to know up front whether you can get financed before you start looking for homes. Pre-Qualification is the process of checking your credit and DTI ratio based on the information you supplied to us.  This is not a Pre-Approval.  Once you are pre-qualified, we will have you bring in required documentation needed for the application. We will then verify your income docs (pay stubs, W-2's, and tax returns) and other various documentation needed for the loan (BK paperwork, asset information, verifications, etc). If those correspond to the information gave to us, you are now Pre-Approved and we will then give you a Loan Commitment Letter. You will need to give this to the realtor.
2. Find a realtor to work with. We suggest using someone that you are comfortable with. There are many realtors out there. Finding the right one for you may take some time.
3. Once you have found a realtor to work with, it is time to start looking at homes.
4. You have found the home you would like to purchase. Now you must make the initial offer. Before making the offer always check make sure the offer is correct with the terms of your pre-qualification. Often, the buyer and seller will counter offer several times before coming to an agreement
5. All parties have accepted the purchase agreement and now the full file can be sent in for underwriting approval. At this time the appraisal, title, and other third party inspections will be ordered. Once they are received, they must be sent in to the underwriter for approval. Other underwriting conditions would also now have to be met.  The underwriting process can take anywhere from two days to a couple of weeks depending on how long it takes us to receive our requirements.
6. Once the file has been underwritten and approved we will receive Underwriting Approval. The lender will give us a Clear to Close and all parties will be notified to schedule the closing
7. The last thing left is to close. Closing is where all the final documents for the mortgage and sale of the property is signed and completed.  Included in this are the Note, Mortgage, HUD, Truth In Lending among others.