Government-backed mortgages are always administered through authorized banks/lenders. Specific steps vary from lender to lender. The following are examples of how the process usually goes with refinances and purchases:
Refinances
1. First fill in the contact form on the sidebar of this site. If you look like a good candidate for a government-backed mortgage one of our counselors will refer you to an authorized lender who can give you guidance on the next steps.
2. After gathering some basic info about your current loan payments the loan officer will work on putting a preliminary estimate together for you.
3. Assuming you give a green light on the estimate, you normally complete an official loan application over the phone with the loan officer, look at credit with them, then move to the next steps. The next steps include signing initial disclosures and sending over verification documents like w2’s, pay stubs etc.
4. The lender will order an appraisal for you in cases where appraisals are needed
5. Once the authorized lender receives the income/asset verifications and disclosures, they submit the whole package to an underwriter for approval
7. When the loan is approved, you meet with a local title company representative to sign all the final documents
The entire refinance process usually takes around three to six weeks from the time the borrower sends in all of the initial required documents.
Home Purchases
1. First fill in this contact form on our home purchases page. If you look like a good candidate for a government-backed mortgage one of our counselors will refer you to an authorized lender.
2. After verifying you have the capacity to afford the new mortgage the loan officer will suggest the best program for your situation. The loan officer will then check your credit with you. Assuming credit and income are sufficient the loan officer will then request verification documents on income and assets and send over a home purchase loan pre-qualification letter.
3. If you don’t have a real estate agent already the loan officer can refer a qualified agent to you. The loan officer will send the pre-qualification letter to the real estate agent so you can shop for homes and make an offer when you find the home you want.
3. Once your offer on a home is accepted, the sales contract is sent to the loan officer. The next steps include you signing the initial loan disclosures documents and sending over any other required verification documents to the loan officer.
5. After the lender receives all required documents they will order an appraisal for you. Once the appraisal is completed they submit the whole package to an underwriter for approval
7. When the loan is approved you meet with a local title company representative to sign all the final documents. After that you receive the keys to your new home!
The purchase loan process usually takes around three to four weeks from the time that all preliminary documents are received from the borrower.