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It is a very simple push of the button with your lender. You will need to have a purchase agreement in hand and applied for a mortgage. Talk to your lender, tell them to lock in your rate. The longer you want the rate locked for, the more expensive it will be. 

Seller concession are something you need to ask for upfront. You need to have this talk with your real estate agent before you make an offer. You are asking the seller to cover some of your closing costs. In a conventional process, you can ask for up to 3% of the purchase price to be covered by the seller. On a FHA or VA loan, you can go up to 6%. Make sure to have a talk with your real estate agent about seller concessions.

A credit score is an algorithm of your payment history and credit you obtained in the past or credit you haven't obtained yet. With mortgages, we look at all three and take the one in the middle Your credit score can impact whether you are approved or not approved. It can also impact the amount you have to put down and the amount in closing costs you have to pay.

An EMD is an Earnest Money Deposit. It is a deposit made to a seller that represents a buyers good faith to buy a home. The money gives the buyer extra time to get financing and conduct the title search, property appraisal and inspections before closing. Money is given when you make an offer on a home. Usually the amount is between one and three percent. You will receive a credit at closing for the EMD you put down.

The way the lender gets paid is by building the mortgage and placing it with a lender. The lender pays the mortgage broker directly for referring the mortgage to them.

A pre-approval is good for as long as your circumstances stay the same. Once something changes (ex. you change jobs or you no longer have the same amount of money in the bank), you no longer have a pre-approval. We can use the same credit pull for up to 90 days.

Mortgage points are also known as discount points. They are fees paid directly to the lender at closing in exchange for a reduced interest rate. This is also called "buying down the rate", which can lower your monthly mortgage payments. It is money you are paying at the time of closing to get your interest rate lower.

An escrow is an account set up for you by the mortgage company to collect insurance and taxes every month. You can waive escrow in conventional loans. There are stipulations when you can waive and when you cannot. Check with your mortgage broker to find out more.

Pre-Qualified means the lender has pulled your credit, received your income statements, looked at your assets and made an underwriting decision.  They put it in an automated system that says you are approved. 

Pre-Approved means high volume lenders use to let you know they think you can buy a house based on your credit and will ask you some questions about your income. You will be told the amount they they think you can get a loan for. It does not go through the process of underwriting. 

We recommend you get pre-qualified rather than pre-approved. Contact us today to learn more.