Home Loan Document Checklist
Start gathering documents from our Home Loan Document Checklist below. Applying for a loan is easy. The hard part for many people is getting their paperwork together. In this challenging housing market, you want to be prepared.
Plan Ahead For Your Home Loan
The Home Loan Document Checklist pretty straightforward. Start gathering your required paperwork now. Every lender requires personal documents to process and approve a home loan mortgage. The credit report provides some account names and account numbers, but our checklist gives you the list to work on. We suggest you start now because it may not be easy.
Know that you should be prepared to provide everything on the Home Loan Document Checklist at your first appointment or by email. Later on, you’ll be asked for additional pay stubs and bank/broker statements monthly as you get them until the loan is completed. Another credit check and employment verification are done on the final day before closing the loan.
Try hard not to change a thing once you are approved.
Loan Document Checklist
- 2 Years of Tax Returns for every person on the loan. These need to be for last year and the year before
- Year-to-date P & L if you’re self-employed
- Business Tax Returns, if applicable
- A month of paycheck stubs or check copies for each person signing the loan
- Two months of bank or credit union statements for both checking and savings accounts
- Lender, loan number, and amount owed on installment loans- student loans, cars, etc.
- Addresses where you’ve lived for the last five years
- Brokerage account statements- last two statements
- List of assets- Stocks, bonds, boats, homes, cars, where no debt is involved
- Your most recent 401(k) or other retirement account statement
- Documentation to verify additional income, such as Social Security, pensions, and child support- paying or receiving
Lender Home Loan Products and Approval
There are many kinds of home loan products. Stated Income Home Loans have gone away, but there are home loans where you can show bank deposits to verify income and other creative programs. Anything out of the mainstream box will result in a higher interest rate.
If you’d like a referral to our favorite local lenders, give Bruce Singer and Caren Becker a call. After 25+ years of doing Las Vegas real estate, someone has to really impress us to keep our business. We are fortunate to have 2 top-notch lenders to refer you to.
Interview them. Both Bruce and Caren have over 25 years of Las Vegas loan officer expertise. They advise you when needed and make sure you are getting the best possible rates and customer service.
All I Need is a Pre-Approval Letter, Right?
Yes, but no. I pre-approval letter doesn’t really say anything except that you talked to the lender, but they haven’t seen your documentation. When a seller is presented with an offer, they need to decide if you are worth the risk of taking their house off the market. Would you take your house off the market because your buyer talked to a lender?
Ideally, having a “Fully Approved Loan Qualification Letter” has a lot more weight than a “Pre-Qualification” letter. When there are multiple offers on a house, cash is king, a fully approved loan is the second-best, and a pre-qualified buyer is third. Make the time to do your loan app before looking at houses.
If you just starting the home buying journey, get your credit report and verify its accuracy. There is a problem with inaccurate reporting to the big 3 reporting agencies. Google “free credit reports with FICO score,” or go to FreeCreditReport.com. Also, see our credit blogs listed below.
Looking For A House For Sale
Once you’ve completed everything on your home loan document checklist, your job is mostly finished. Give the lender a week or two to finish his file and get underwriter approval, subject to an appraisal.
Now it’s time to find a house! In a seller’s market, the quality of the buyer is important. If you are not paying cash, you need to show the seller that you are prepared to buy their house and are not a high risk.
For a seller, there isn’t much worse than selling their house and having it fall out 3 weeks later. They’ve packed, found another place to live, hired movers, and probably are counting on their equity to put down on the house they’ve purchased. Being FULLY loan approved is imperative to have your offer to purchase chosen over competitors.
Competing For A Home
When you are FULLY loan approved, your purchase power becomes similar to someone paying cash. You are able to remove the loan approval contingency, which is huge.
Most people would rather sell to A PERSON than sell to an investor. In a city where investors buy homes, this may be important- especially in the $250,000 – $500,000 range of houses. We want the seller to like you, and by being loan approved, it makes you almost as good as a cash buyer.
There are additional strategies that we utilize when you are competing for a house. With 26+ years of selling houses, we’ve worked with many agents, and many trust us and more know who we are. The Realtor you choose to work with makes a difference.
If you cannot be FULLY loan approved, be pre-qualified with a complete file and all documentation on the Home Loan Document Checklist.
Wasting your time viewing homes, making offers, and being turned down for an unknown factor is heartbreaking. Being prepared and being aware is the best way to buy a house.
We Sell Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas
Call or text us today with any questions or for an appointment to see some of these great homes- 702-750-7599
This website and information are made available for you to explore by Kurt Grosse with Realty One Group. Kurt is a Las Vegas Top-Producing Realtor since 1996 and a former Nevada Building Engineer (PE. CE).
Kurt’s goal with his buyers and sellers is to use his skills and knowledge to protect them and their investments. Houses are not built perfectly and with how quickly homes are built in Southern Nevada, his skills are invaluable.
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