Yes, it’s important to know how much you qualify for before you begin your home search. Complete our online application anytime, 24/7. Your application will be instantly run through our Automated Underwriting System and a Free Online Pre-Approval will be issued. Our Pre-Approvals are free of charge and no advance deposit is required. You are under no obligation to obtain a mortgage from our company.

Credit scores (FICO scores) are based on information collected by credit bureaus and information reported each month by your creditors about the balances you owe and the timing of your payments. A credit score is a compilation of all this information converted into a number that helps a lender to determine the likelihood that you will repay the loan on schedule. The credit score is calculated by the credit bureau, not by the lender. Credit scores are calculated by comparing your credit history with millions of other consumers. They have proven to be a very effective way of determining credit worthiness.

Some of the things that affect your credit score include your payment history, your outstanding obligations, the length of time you have had outstanding credit, the types of credit you use, and the number of inquiries that have been made about your credit history in the recent past.

Credit scores used for mortgage loan decisions range from approximately 300 to 900.

An abundance of credit inquiries can sometimes affect your credit scores since it may indicate that your use of credit is increasing. But don't overreact! The data used to calculate your credit score doesn't include any mortgage or auto loan credit inquiries that are made within the 30 days prior to the score being calculated. In addition, all mortgage inquiries made in any 14-day period are always considered one inquiry. Don't limit your mortgage shopping for fear of the effect on your credit score.

There is no charge to you for the credit information we'll access with your permission to evaluate your application online. You will only be charged for a credit report if you decide to complete the application process after your loan is approved.

The fact is, we are able to provide you an approval online within 15 minutes, without any upfront fees. You may elect to pay an application fee online once you are approved and are happy with the terms presented. How can it get any more right than that?

Whether you're purchasing or refinancing, we're certain you'll find our expedited service amazing!

If you'll be purchasing but haven't found the perfect home yet, complete our application and we'll issue an approval online to show the seller, with no obligation!

Yes, you can borrow funds to use as your down payment! However, any loans that you take out must be secured by an asset that you own. If you own something of value that you could borrow funds against such as a car or another home, it's a perfectly acceptable source of funds. If you are planning on obtaining a loan, make sure to include the details of this loan in the Expenses section of the application.

We take full advantage of an automated underwriting system that allows us to request as little information as possible to verify the data you provided during your loan application. Gone are the days when it was necessary to verify every piece of data collected during the application. The automated underwriting system compares your financial situation with statistical data from millions of other homeowners and uses that comparison to determine the level of verification needed. In many cases, a single W-2 or pay stub can be used to verify your income or a single bank statement can be used to verify the assets needed to close your loan.

Generally, the income of self-employed borrowers is verified by obtaining copies of personal (and business, if applicable) federal tax returns for the most recent two-year period. We'll review and average the net income from self-employment that's reported on your tax returns to determine the income that can be used to qualify. We won't be able to consider any income that hasn't been reported as such on your tax returns. Typically, we'll need at least one, and sometimes a full two-year history of self-employment to verify that your self-employment income is stable.

In order for bonus, overtime, or commission income to be considered, you must have a history of receiving it and it must be likely to continue. We'll usually need to obtain copies of W-2 statements for the previous two years and a recent pay stub to verify this type of income. If a major part of your income is commission earnings, we need to obtain copies of recent tax returns to verify the amount of business-related expenses, if any. We'll average the amounts you have received over the past two years to calculate the amount that can be considered as a regular part of your income.

If you haven't been receiving bonus, overtime, or commission income for at least one year, it probably can't be given full value when your loan is reviewed for approval.

We will always attempt to approve you for the loan without using these sources of additional income to reduce the amount of documentation you need to provide.

We will ask for copies of your recent pension check stubs, or bank statement if your pension or retirement income is deposited directly in your bank account. Sometimes it will also be necessary to verify that this income will continue for at least three years since some pension or retirement plans do not provide income for life. This can usually be verified with a copy of your award letter. If you don't have an award letter, we can contact the source of this income directly for verification.

If you're receiving tax-free income, such as social security earnings in some cases, we'll consider the fact that taxes will not be deducted from this income when reviewing your request.

We do not currently offer loan programs for borrowers who are not able to document their income.

On a refinance your loan lock is automatically requested for 30 days upon online approval and submission of the application fee. If you wish to float please contact your Loan Advisor within 24 hours. On purchases, your rate lock will not be requested until you communicate your desire to do so, as we need to incorporate the close of escrow date on your purchase contract.

If you own rental properties, we'll generally ask for the most recent year's federal tax return to verify your rental income. We'll review the Schedule E of the tax return to verify your rental income, after all expenses except depreciation. Since depreciation is only a paper loss, it won't be counted against your rental income.

If you haven't owned the rental property for a complete tax year, we'll ask for a copy of any leases you've executed and we'll estimate the expenses of ownership.

Generally, two years personal tax returns are required to verify the amount of your dividend and/or interest income so that an average of the amounts you receive can be calculated. In addition, we will need to verify your ownership of the assets that generate the income using copies of statements from your financial institution, brokerage statements, stock certificates or Promissory Notes.

Typically, income from dividends and/or interest must be expected to continue for at least three years to be considered for repayment.

We will always attempt to approve you for the loan without using these sources of additional income to reduce the amount of documentation you need to provide.

Information about child support, alimony, or separate maintenance income does not need to be provided unless you wish to have it considered for repaying this mortgage loan.

Typically, income from a second job will be considered if a two-year history of secondary employment can be verified.

Having changed employers frequently is typically not a hindrance to obtaining a new mortgage loan. This is particularly true if you made employment changes without having periods of time in between without employment. We'll also look at your income advancements as you have changed employment.

If you're paid on a commission basis, a recent job change may be an issue since we'll have a difficult time of predicting your earnings without a history with your new employer.

Enter the name of the school attended and the length of time you were in school in the "length of employment" fields. You can enter a position of "student" and income of "0."

Underwriting guidelines require us to use the lower of the appraised value or the sales price to determine your down payment requirement.

Gifts are an acceptable source of down payment, if the gift giver is related to you or your co-borrower. We'll ask you for the name, address, and phone number of the gift giver, as well as the donor's relationship to you.

If your loan request is for more than 80% of the purchase price, we'll need to verify that you have at least 5% of the property's value in your own assets.

Prior to closing, we'll verify that the gift funds have been transferred to you by obtaining a copy of your bank receipt or deposit slip to verify that you have deposited the gift funds into your account.

You will be asked to support your income with a recent paystub and the prior year's W-2 form. Self-employed borrowers will be asked to support their income with the prior one or two years' tax returns. Funds needed to close the transaction will typically be supported with a copy of a recent bank statement. If proceeds from the sale of another property are being used for the down payment, an estimated closing statement on that transaction will be required prior to closing.

Complete the application as if this were your current employer and indicate that you have been there for one month. The information about the employment you'll be leaving should be entered as a previous employer.

Generally, a co-signed debt is considered when determining your qualifications for a mortgage. If the co-signed debt doesn't affect your ability to obtain a new mortgage we'll leave it in your ratios. However, if it makes a difference, we can ignore the monthly payment of the co-signed debt if you can provide verification that the other person responsible for the debt has made the required payments, by obtaining copies of their cancelled checks for the last 12 months.

Any student loans should be included in the application. If you are not sure exactly what the monthly payment will be at this time, enter an estimated amount.

If you've had a bankruptcy or foreclosure in the past, it may affect your ability to get a new mortgage. Unless the bankruptcy or foreclosure was caused by situations beyond your control, we will generally require that two to four years have passed since the bankruptcy or foreclosure. It is also important that you've re-established an acceptable credit history with new loans or credit cards.

An installment debt is a loan that you make payments on, such as an auto loan, a student loan or a debt consolidation loan. Do not include payments on other living expenses, such as insurance costs or medical bill payments. We'll include any installment debts that have more than 10 months remaining when calculating your debt-to-income ratio.

We offer loan programs with as little as 5% down (3.5% if purchasing with a FHA program). However, significant savings may be achieved with a down payment of 10% or 20% so we encourage you to run multiple loan scenarios on our website if you can afford a greater down payment. On condos, the best rates are obtained with a 25% down payment.

On refinance transactions, Federal law mandates that you have three days, after signing your loan documents, in which to cancel your loan. This three day period includes Saturdays, but excludes Sundays and Holidays. Your loan will not be funded until this period has expired.

If you're not sure about exact amounts, please make an educated best guess. Websites such as Zillow.com and Eppraisal.com may be helpful. The appraisal, or purchase price will ultimately be used to determine the value of the property. Prior to finalizing your loan documents, your processor will send you an estimated closing statement and you will have an opportunity to adjust your loan amount as you deem appropriate.

On a refinance transaction, estimate your closing date to be 20-25 days from the date you are applying.

On a purchase transaction, use the estimated closing date agreed to in your purchase contract.

On a pre-approval (no property located and/or signed contract with seller), use your best estimate as to when you will have located a property and allowed sufficient time for the seller to vacate (normally 30-45 days from signing contract).

We'll require a copy of the settlement statement (HUD-1) on the sale of your current residence to verify that you’ve received sufficient funds for our closing. If the closing of your current home is scheduled for the same day as the closing of your new home, we'll ask the closing agent on that transaction to provide evidence.

On a Single Family Residence or PUD, there must be a minimum of 60 days of coverage remaining on your policy from the time of funding. On a condo, your Association's Home Owners Insurance policy must be current.

You must contact the credit agencies directly and dispute the reported item.

How to contact the agencies:

Transunion Consumer Relations

PO Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

800-888-4213

https://www.transunion.com

Equifax Consumer Relations

PO Box 105873

Atlanta, GA 30348

800-685-1111

https://www.equifax.com

Experian Consumer Relations

PO Box 2002

Allen, TX 75013

888-397-3742

https://www.experian.com

If you have been a victim of identity theft, you have certain rights under the law. You should provide a copy of a valid police report to the credit reporting agencies and request that they block the reporting of the information that appears on your credit report as a result of identity theft. The law provides guidance to the credit reporting agencies on when to block and unblock such information.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACTA) provides that every consumer is entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three national repositories: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Customers may obtain their personal credit report through the following website: www.annualcreditreport.com