Here at Mortgage Specialists, we help homebuyers secure mortgage loans at every stage of their life. Whether you’re a first-time buyer with no experience in the mortgage process or a seasoned homeowner looking for a refinance, we’re equipped to help make the process as simple and stress-free as possible.
Mortgage Loan Basics
While mortgages vary slightly at every stage of life, there are basics that remain the same for each. Before we delve into how we can help buyers with different loan options, we want to cover a few of the basics.
Mortgage process from start to finish:
- Get pre-approved
- Start house hunting
- Make an offer on a home
- Finalize your mortgage application
- Wait for your loan to be processed and approved by the underwriter
- Line up homeowners insurance
- Review the closing disclosure
- Show up to your closing
Documents needed for mortgage or refinance:
- Paycheck stubs for the past 30 days
- Two years of W-2 forms
- Two months of checking and savings account statements
- Copy of your driver’s license
- Two years of federal tax returns (if self-employed or own rental properties)
- Last quarterly retirement and investment statements (possibly needed)
Looking to buy your first home?
Don’t worry, we’ve helped thousands of first-time buyers through the mortgage process. If you’re ready to buy your first home but don’t know where to start, begin by filling out our online application. It should take 10-20 minutes to complete and after submitting, we’ll give you a call to discuss your loan options and answer all of your questions.
For first-time buyers especially, our team at Mortgage Specialists likes to stress the importance of getting pre-approved early. It’s the first step in the mortgage process and helps you know what you can afford to buy.
If you’re considering purchasing your first home, click here to discover what the mortgage process was like for one of our first-time homebuyers.
Ready to sell your first home and buy a different one?
Buying and selling at the same time is a little different than your first home purchase. In an ideal world, you would be able to sell your current home and close on your new house on the same day. Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible.
It’s important to gauge the real estate market so you know whether it’s going to be harder to sell your existing home or purchase a new one. If it’s a buyer’s market, you might want to list your home for sale before making any offers. Since it’s a buyer’s market, there are likely a lot of homes for sale and it might be harder to sell your home than it is to find a new one. And if it’s a seller’s market, you may want to find your next home before listing your current house for sale.
Click here to learn more about buying your next home. As always, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (402) 991-5153 to talk through your options. We can take your financial situation into consideration, as well as the current market, and give you advice on purchasing your next home.
Time to downsize to a smaller home?
Many people reach a certain time in their lives when they realize they just don’t need as much space. If the kids have moved out and the large family gatherings take place at a relative’s house, it makes sense to downsize into a smaller home. While many of our clients would prefer to pay for their new house in cash, that isn’t always an option.
Let our team walk you through your options to ensure you get the best loan for your unique situation.
Thinking of refinancing?
Depending on the type of refinance, you can save thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan. But, that isn’t always the goal, so the first step is to determine what type of refinance you’re interested in. There are three main types of refinance loans: rate-term, cash-out, and divorce.
- Rate-term refinances help lower monthly payments by extending the life of your loan or lowering your interest rate.
- Cash-out refinances allow you to leverage your home’s equity for cash.
- Divorce refinances take your spouse’s portion of the loan and adds it to what you owe while removing them from the loan so you can continue living in the family home.
Click here to learn more about what to consider when refinancing your home.
Regardless of the stage of life, if you’re ready to take the next step and start the mortgage process, you can begin right now! Take 10-20 minutes to fill out our online application, submit it, and we’ll give you a call in a few hours to discuss the next steps!
Post has been updated from its original publication date of February 3, 2023.