Skip to main content

The Calm Before the Storm

There’s a commercial for a mortgage company that plays regularly on a podcast that I like to follow.  In this commercial you hear the question, “Why can’t people get a decision on their mortgage in minutes rather than having to wait weeks?”  Kudos to the copywriter of the ad for keying on our penchant to have things instantly instead of having to wait.  In today’s day and age, we take photos with our phones and see them instantly (and most likely never view them again until we’re looking to free up storage space on our phones).  Conversely, it wasn’t THAT long ago that there was this thing called “film” that went inside a camera (that had no way of making phone calls), and you had to take the film to a place that developed it and printed the photos on PAPER and we would wait a few DAYS to get those prints back to see that we had our thumb in front of the lens in five of the shots and seven other photos were completely blurry and unrecognizable (and we paid for ALL of the developed photos).  We were such barbarians!

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have things instantly.  Don’t worry: I’m not going to wax poetic about the virtues of waiting and how it makes things so much more worthwhile I’d probably lose all three of the people who regularly read this article if I did.  What I am going to do is tell you what the commercial doesn’t tell you: getting an “instant” decision on your mortgage IS possible, but it’s not done with the wave of a magic wand YOU, the buyer, have to have everything ready.  Think of what I’m about to list as your mortgage “bug-out bag” (that bag of essentials you have pre-packed and ready so you can escape a bad situation at a moment’s notice).  Here’s what you need:

Valid ID and Social Security Card (Passport or Birth Certificate is acceptable) for all borrowers
Most recent pay stubs for the past 30 days
Most recent two years’ W2s and/or 1099s
Most recent two years’ Federal tax returns
Two most recent bank statements (with ALL numbered pages)
Current 401(k) or Retirement Account statement
Divorce Decree (if applicable)
Bankruptcy Discharge (if applicable) or Complete Bankruptcy Filing (if applicable)
Veteran’s DD214 (VA loan), Commanding Officer’s Information (active military)
Pension/Social Security Income Award Letter (if applicable)
Annuity Distribution Letter (if applicable)

As you can see from the list above, these are all things that you should be able to access without a problem we’re not asking for copies of your third-grade report card or proof that you won the tri-county funnel cake eating contest.  If you have these items easily accessible, you can get a decision on a mortgage very quickly.  If you don’t, though, then that decision will drag on and on until you gather them up and get them to your mortgage company.  It’s completely up to you.

In today’s seller’s market where the good homes are going under contract as quickly as they’re appearing on the MLS (or even before) you WANT to have your “bug-out bag” current and ready.  If not, you’re going to have to weather the storm with no roof over your head. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Numbers Don't Lie, But Wherein Lies the Truth? (Posted November 21, 2016)

Said with enough conviction, you can make almost anything sound true.   Preface the fabrication with “according to a recent bi-partisan government study,” and you’re three quarters of the way to selling the lie to a lot of people.   Seriously, try this. The next time you’re at a dinner party or having coffee with friends, pepper this little tidbit into the conversation: “I read something really interesting the other day.   According to a recent bi-partisan government study – I think it took them three years to get it all done – middle-aged men who drive either a Toyota Camry or a Honda Odyssey have more testosterone than younger men who drive either a Ford F150 or a Dodge Charger.”   You’ll get some raised eyebrows and looks of mild disbelief, but don’t let that deter you.   Just lift up your hands, palms outward, and say, “I just think it’s interesting, and it makes sense when you think about it” – and then change the subject to something completely u...

Dumb as (or Smart as) a Box of Rocks (Posted June 27, 2016)

Obviously, you all want to know what Brexit means to the economy and the housing market specifically.   So do I!   But since my crystal ball is at the cleaner’s, let’s give the Brits and the European Union a little time to work out the terms of their separation and look at something else.   What’s a “fad ”?   With the help of Google, this is what I got as a definition: “an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object's qualities; a craze.” In April 1975, an advertising executive by the name of Gary Dahl invented the Pet Rock.   The idea came from his sitting in a bar with some friends who were complaining about the cost and time required to take care of various types of pets.   He marketed his “pets” by placing a rock in a box cut and shaped like one you would get at the pet store to carry home a puppy or a kitten.   Along with the box and the rock, a booklet was included...

Left Behind (Posted April 4, 2016)

It’s highly likely that almost every single one of you already read the Yahoo! Finance article about the survey that Chase recently completed.   For the seven people who decided to take a nap under a rock last week, I’m going to share some of the major talking points here – the rest of you can step away and have an ice cream or paint your cat’s toenails.   First off, the survey shows that an ALARMING 68% of Americans are starting the home search on their own (gasp!) with 45% using a computer or laptop (as opposed to some other type of technologically advanced processor like a microwave oven) as the first step in this search and 13% using their mobile devices.   (In other related news from the Department of the Obvious, scientists have found that fish still have no use of a bicycle and looking directly at the sun is inadvisable.)   With numbers like these, we should just throw in the towel and join the circus, right?   Here’s the weird thing: in the ...