What happens after you apply for mortgage loan?

board package (for coops)

packing and planning moving

What about for condos?

If this is the beginning stages, with your file now going to the underwriting dept. of your lender, be prepared to come up with whatever documentation that dept will request. I found that after my loan approval, there were still a lot of bank/ stock statements, income statements, etc. etc. that I had to produce. That process took a little over 3 months. The underwriting dept. did not receive certain docs (they claim), lost some stuff, nitpicked about a lot of stuff, etc.

That was in last year's almost impossible financing application process and tight credit environment. I gather things have "loosened" up a little?

By the way, I also purchased a condo.

I had same experience as rlr, in that it was the underwriter that caused some delay. Suggest that as soon as you hear from them you pick up phone and develop nice relationship and ask right away if they are missing anything. I was also last year and condo.

do they usually ask for these docs via email or printed? I'm trying to gather up the docs/statements now so it'll be ready when they ask for it.

rlr did you lose your lock-in date since it took over 60 days to gather up your docs?

Here is the rough timeline when working with a good team at any major lender:

Application/ Lock
Required documents should be emailed or faxed within 7 days to the Assistant/ Loan officer
Appraisal Day 7
Underwrite upon receipt of appraisal and docs (Day 14)
Commitment issues (Day 16)
Conditions on commitment have to be provided by you and you should be cleared 7 days from this time.

Dont forget you also have to get the building approved, depending on the address. If there is an issue with the building, that is typically where the slow down is. If you are proactive with the management company and get all the required documents, you should be able to meet the above stated dates, assuming the buidling is approvable.

If you are buying a coop in the city during the summer, you should lock for 90 days, because board meetings are few and far between when everyone is on vacation.

Jim McPartland
646.556.0207
james.mcpartland@bankofamerica.com
NMLS: 614743

iluvppa,

Hey, jimmcp outlined a great schedule with many details but my Lender was all over the place. Underwriting arranged the appraisal and chargeback to me. Underwriting was very busy and got to my file later than I was told by my broker. Underwriting did not get documents I prepared meticulously and overnighted to my broker. I had to resend certain documents. Problems with maiden name vs. married name documents resulted in more delays.

It is good that you are getting key documents ready. Some documents had to go back years, others several months. Just be prepared to get document requests that you might not even expect. I think the specifics depends on the particular Lender and Underwriting Dept. I did not fight them even though some of the things asked did not make sense or were redundant. You have to follow their instructions to the T, no matter how idiotic you might consider the requests. Underwriting is God in this process.

Yes, I went beyond my lock-in date (which I thought was very generous, might have been a 90 day lock). The process took so long, it went beyond that time frame and even my lawyer's "Drop Dead" date for the closing to take place. The broker told me he would eat up the cost of the renewed lock (since there really were a lot of inefficiencies on the part of the Lender's Underwriting Dept.).

The good thing was the rate had gone down with the delay in my closing. Though I have to tell you it was highly stressful!

As Ottawa stated, get into a cordial relationship with your contact at Underwriting. Most requests were by phone with the Underwriting staff. Then I got a long list of TO DO things from Underwriting at one point via regular mail (as I recall). Then followed another shorter list? God, the requests seem interminable at that time.

I was complimented by the Underwriting staff for my organized files and docs submitted. That did not prevent the Underwriting Dept. from delaying and getting things lost or misplaced. It was a huge amount of paperwork.

At one point, it felt like an earlier time in my life when I was writing and getting data together for my dissertation!

Sorry, I misread the post above. I normally sent requested docs that were voluminous by overnight mail. Some were emailed back but sometimes those could not be opened by Underwriting, so I relied mostly on regular mail or faxes. Documents with fewer pages were faxed to the Underwriting Dept. I hated the faxing because my pages would stick (bad fax machine) and I would have to stop and do the faxes in small badges. Took a lot of time.

Sorry, I meant small "batches" in the above post, last line.

Thanks everyone. Your tips are really helpful. I guess I will prepare both in digital and printed format. My agent is currently in the process of getting the TCO. He told us to hold off on applying for the loan while he gets the TCO. As soon as he have the TCO in his hands - we can go ahead and apply.

I'm curious what other documents would they request that will go back for several years/months?
So far I have prepared the following
3 year income tax
3 years of W2 and 1099s
3 years of business income tax return
Bank statements (CC, Sav/Chk, Loan)
403b statements
ID/SS
Salary verification
Job Contact Info

Also I should mention that I'm a first time buyer.

You can find out if the condo you are buying is Fannie Mae approved just by googling the following:" Fannie Mae approved condos,NYC" If the condo is not on the list, then find out from the managing agent what is the problem. If the building is non warrantable, there are banks that do these loans.

Ellen Silverman
E. S. Funding Co
Tel:212-786-9682
Licensed Mortgage Broker
Licensed Real Estate Broker
www.esfunding.instantlender.com
NMLS# 60631

Besides the income tax returns, we had retirement savings statements that only came out once annually. Also, at one point, I had to document the source of gift money going into the 20% down and that went back a few years (our circumstances).

You need to wait to see what Underwriting for your lender will choose to focus on that they consider incomplete, if anything, in your file. You appeared to have prepared like I did for all anticipated requests. The rest is up to the Underwriting Dept. and what they want to follow up on or "pick at."

Congrats on moving towards your first purchase. That is very exciting. I hope it goes smoothly for you from here on.

Come back and et us know how it turns out when you are done!

Oh, at one point, the underwriting people sent us Form 4506T? (see link below) to make sure they could get from IRS direct copies of our filed tax returns going back two years (just made the application in time to bypass the deadline of 4/15/12 which would have meant a third year of tax returns).

The form had to be returned and the tax return transcripts sent to the Lender (Underwriting) before a Commitment Letter could be issued.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf

I don't believe the condo I'm buying is Fannie Mae. It is FHA approved but I am considering applying conventional than FHA. Wells Fargo has a min 5% downpayment for conventional and I have heard a lot of good reviews about their first time mortgage loans. rlr, if you don't mind me asking, who is your lender?

I have my fingers crossed that all will go smoothly. I'm so ready to move!!! :)

The lender was a "less commonly" used lender but days after our loan closed, we were informed WF had purchased our loan. So we are now with WF.

@ iluvpappa: FHA will typically take a lower presale requirement (30%) than a standard conforming deal (51%), so this scenario will be based on the presale of the building, since there is a gap between FHA and FNMA approval levels. What is the name of the buidling?

Jim McPartland
646.556.0207
james.mcpartland@bankofamerica.com
NMLS: 614743