First time "possible" home owner looking for a loan?

You or anyone in the family military? If so, start with USAA. Otherwise, start with your CU and then try a big-time loan company like Quicken to see what they have. Make sure to comparison shop.

Quote from tennis8363 : You or anyone in the family military? If so, start with USAA. Otherwise, start with your CU and then try a big-time loan company like Quicken to see what they have. Make sure to comparison shop.

Thank you. Unfortunately no military in the family though.

All I know is AVOID Wells Fargo. That has to be the worst experience I have ever had to go through. It took them 6 months to get our pre-approved loan. It didn't help that my wife and I decided to go FHA loan either. Damn, FHA loans are a pain in the arze.

I had a friend who was a mortgage broker. He shopped around for the best rate for me (at no cost) you would likely have to pay a little, but it could be worth it if they land you a better rate than you would have found on your own.

Quote from kmoff77 : My fiance and I have been window shopping for houses for a bit now. We have recently pickup up our pace and we know her parents will be helping us with a down payment when we are ready. But I know the first thing we need to do is to get pre-approved for a loan. Can anyone recommend where I should get started? Should I go to my Credit Union? Or should I be looking at a broker? Any opinions would be great. Thank you!

It's a pre-approval. It means nothing. Go up to literally any banker, tell them you want one, and appx for how much, and give them the info they request (SSN, W2s, payment stubs, list of bank account balances, etc). Tell them they need to get it to you by the end of the week or you'll take your "business" elsewhere.

Don't waste time shopping around during the pre-approval stage. Pre-approval is literally a note from the bank saying they'd probably be willing to give you a loan for the amount you request. It's just to help the seller be more confident you won't waste their time putting in offers on a house you can't afford.

Once you have an accepted offer, THEN it's time to go rate hunting.

Good luck!

Quote from bonkman : Once you have an accepted offer, THEN it's time to go rate hunting. Good luck!

So is this the point where the borrower should know the cash amount that they want to put down towards the property to negotiate a better rate?

Quote from GeTinThere007 : So is this the point where the borrower should know the cash amount that they want to put down towards the property to negotiate a better rate?

no, you're not negotiating rates yet. This is just a letter saying you have enough money and credit to be well-qualified for a loan for $____.

You should ballpark what your limit is and how much cash you're going to put down. But you should've done that when you started looking at houses.

And remember just because the bank says you qualify for $$ doesn't mean it is a good idea to spend that max amount. Figure your budget on paper and then go lower still. Even better, buy your house on the budget of only 1 worker instead of 2. This way you know you will be ok financially no matter what life throws at you.

Quote from bonkman : It's a pre-approval. It means nothing. Go up to literally any banker, tell them you want one, and appx for how much, and give them the info they request (SSN, W2s, payment stubs, list of bank account balances, etc). Tell them they need to get it to you by the end of the week or you'll take your "business" elsewhere. Don't waste time shopping around during the pre-approval stage. Pre-approval is literally a note from the bank saying they'd probably be willing to give you a loan for the amount you request. It's just to help the seller be more confident you won't waste their time putting in offers on a house you can't afford. Once you have an accepted offer, THEN it's time to go rate hunting. Good luck!

Pre-approval is something to make the seller feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It can give you, the buyer, a look into how the lender works (e.g., rates and other perks) but you are by no means locked into anything with that lender. My wife and I actually ruled a few banks out when looking to get a pre-approval. Make sure it's a pre-approval, too, and not a pre-qualification. A pre-qual is based on your word alone; a pre-approval has the lender look at your income, bank accounts, etc to arrive at the result.

I would figure out what you wnat to spend on your house, and get a pre-approval letter for that amount. Many banks will pre-approve you for more than that, but take teh letter with the lower amount, and use it as a bargaining chip in the negotiation process if needed. You could come back and ask for a letter with a higher amount if needed later on, too.

Other things to keep in mind are that your fiance's parents will need to write a letter of some sort indicating that the help they give you is a financial gift; and make sure all money in your bank accounts can be traced (paychecks, bank transfer, etc) - large cash deposits will likely be excluded from consideration for down payment / reserves. You may think you have more money in your accounts than the bank thinks you do, which may affect your down payment amount and thus your max purchase price or type of loan (convention vs FHA). Our lender (Wells Fargo) wanted to trace every deposit in all of our accounts made during the last 2 statement periods.

Note: Fees are absolutely negotiable. This was something I learned during refi, that I wish I had known when I first bought my house. Or rather, I didn't feel I had leverage to use when buying. You're the customer, and they make money when you buy the house. Use that to your advantage.

Quote from kmoff77 : My fiance and I have been window shopping for houses for a bit now. We have recently pickup up our pace and we know her parents will be helping us with a down payment when we are ready. But I know the first thing we need to do is to get pre-approved for a loan. Can anyone recommend where I should get started? Should I go to my Credit Union? Or should I be looking at a broker? Any opinions would be great. Thank you!

to clarify on what mmathis said about the gift -- that's something you'll worry about when you actually look for a loan, not for the pre-approval. When you pick a place and apply for a mortgage, they'll give you some gift forms for your in-laws to fill out (which basically makes sure that THEY have enough money to give you a gift). Remember: max gift per receiver without running into tax problems is something like 12,500 or 13k (I forget the exact amount -- ask your mortgage person as they'll know).

Quote from bonkman : to clarify on what mmathis said about the gift -- that's something you'll worry about when you actually look for a loan, not for the pre-approval. When you pick a place and apply for a mortgage, they'll give you some gift forms for your in-laws to fill out (which basically makes sure that THEY have enough money to give you a gift). Remember: max gift per receiver without running into tax problems is something like 12,500 or 13k (I forget the exact amount -- ask your mortgage person as they'll know).

Thanks a lot. The gift may be a problem, because I "think" they were planning on doing a gift about twice that amount. I wonder how big the tax problems would be?

Avoid WELLS FARGO by all means. I had a very horrible experience with them.