Mortgage help please
#1
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Location: Temecula, CA
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Mortgage help please
Search is currently down and Googling "site:britishexpats.com mortgage" yields results for other parts of the world (not sure if/how I can narrow down a Google search to a particular subforum...?). So I apologise in advance for asking questions which no doubt have been asked before. I can only find a brief paragraph in the credit section of the Wiki for mortgages.
We're going for our first mortgage appointment next week. I thought I read somewhere that first time buyers, or maybe those without much credit history, should head to their bank first, which is what we're doing (Wells Fargo). Did I recall that correctly?
Should we shop around as well? Or would WF be able to sell products from any supplier, not just their own?
I've got two tax returns (signed by accountant), last two payslips for the wife (electronic; printouts), last two bank statements (electronic; printouts), and last year's W-2 for the wife (electronic; printout). This is all the advisor has asked for but he didn't answer questions about the electronic versions. Are they generally ok, including the W-2? I'm sure the wife ought to have a proper W-2 but not entirely sure... I'm self employed. Anything else we ought to take that he hasn't asked for?
Using the affordability calculators and comparing to the price of houses in the area, the former is roughly double the latter. Do we specify how much we want to borrow - in which case we go for a very conservative figure that is much lower than the theoretical maximum - or do they just give you a figure?
Is deposit much of an issue at the pre-approval stage? Put another way, do we have to show the appropriate funds while getting pre-approved? We're nearly there, just slightly short for a couple of weeks.
Any idea how long we should expect to wait for something we can wave in realtors' faces to show we're serious about buying houses?
Obviously the advisor is going to answer these but it helps to have an idea before we walk in the building. Thanks.
We're going for our first mortgage appointment next week. I thought I read somewhere that first time buyers, or maybe those without much credit history, should head to their bank first, which is what we're doing (Wells Fargo). Did I recall that correctly?
Should we shop around as well? Or would WF be able to sell products from any supplier, not just their own?
I've got two tax returns (signed by accountant), last two payslips for the wife (electronic; printouts), last two bank statements (electronic; printouts), and last year's W-2 for the wife (electronic; printout). This is all the advisor has asked for but he didn't answer questions about the electronic versions. Are they generally ok, including the W-2? I'm sure the wife ought to have a proper W-2 but not entirely sure... I'm self employed. Anything else we ought to take that he hasn't asked for?
Using the affordability calculators and comparing to the price of houses in the area, the former is roughly double the latter. Do we specify how much we want to borrow - in which case we go for a very conservative figure that is much lower than the theoretical maximum - or do they just give you a figure?
Is deposit much of an issue at the pre-approval stage? Put another way, do we have to show the appropriate funds while getting pre-approved? We're nearly there, just slightly short for a couple of weeks.
Any idea how long we should expect to wait for something we can wave in realtors' faces to show we're serious about buying houses?
Obviously the advisor is going to answer these but it helps to have an idea before we walk in the building. Thanks.
#2
Re: Mortgage help please
Is deposit much of an issue at the pre-approval stage? Put another way, do we have to show the appropriate funds while getting pre-approved? We're nearly there, just slightly short for a couple of weeks.
Any idea how long we should expect to wait for something we can wave in realtors' faces to show we're serious about buying houses?
Obviously the advisor is going to answer these but it helps to have an idea before we walk in the building. Thanks.
Any idea how long we should expect to wait for something we can wave in realtors' faces to show we're serious about buying houses?
Obviously the advisor is going to answer these but it helps to have an idea before we walk in the building. Thanks.
Regarding deposits, banks are much more wary about checking where the cash has come from. They do not like to see it coming from a second loan or cash advance. They do like to see a paper trail of where it has come from.
You'll probably get a response right there and he'll hopefully say you can borrow a ridiculous sum at which point you giggle and say yeah well we probably only need X.
#3
Re: Mortgage help please
"Where the cash came from" is a slightly different issue, and may cause you some headaches if it is wired from overseas, or has some other murky appearance e.g. a sack of mixed used small value banknotes.
Other points: Wells Fargo is a bank, not a broker, so you will only get a Wells Fargo mortgage from them. Wells Fargo is currently responsible for almost 30% of mortgages written in the US, and offer very competitive rates. I have a Wells Fargo mortgage myself and found the process of getting the mortgage to be very smooth, and everything has gone flawlessly since, so I definitely recommend them!
Last edited by Pulaski; Mar 12th 2014 at 6:19 pm.
#4
Re: Mortgage help please
Under current (new/recent) regulations the deposit CANNOT come from a loan unless it is a loan secured on real estate. In other words you can't either borrow the money on your credit card, against your car, or an unsecured personal loan, it is not permitted.
"Where the cash came from" is a slightly different issue, and may cause you some headaches if it is wired from overseas, or has some other murky appearance e.g. a sack of mixed used small value banknotes.
"Where the cash came from" is a slightly different issue, and may cause you some headaches if it is wired from overseas, or has some other murky appearance e.g. a sack of mixed used small value banknotes.
When we bought our house (2010) they basically wanted to know the origins of almost every deposit into our account. When your wife is a freelance consultant for some big firms this can get tricky.
#5
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Athens GA
Posts: 2,132
Re: Mortgage help please
I would definitely shop around. Credit unions and regional banks will often have more discretion than somewhere like Wells Fargo.
#6
Re: Mortgage help please
I knew they had tightened up the rules, didn't know they had made it specifically illegal.
When we bought our house (2010) they basically wanted to know the origins of almost every deposit into our account. When your wife is a freelance consultant for some big firms this can get tricky.
When we bought our house (2010) they basically wanted to know the origins of almost every deposit into our account. When your wife is a freelance consultant for some big firms this can get tricky.
Under the underwriter's advice I had to moved the money through another account, which was a "permitted source", before moving into my checking account and buying an official check to take to closing. I still don't see how what they told me to do made a scrap of difference, but it made them happy, so who am I to argue?
It will always be easier dealing with a bank that already knows you. A lot of the f***ed-up mortgages prior to 2008 were sourced from brokers even if they were eventually sold on to a bank for servicing. "Discretion" is not necessarily a desirable thing when you're making the most expensive purchase of your life.
Last edited by Pulaski; Mar 12th 2014 at 6:38 pm.
#7
Re: Mortgage help please
Under the underwriter's advice I had to moved the money through another account, which was a "permitted source", before moving into my checking account and buying an official check to take to closing. I still don't see how what they told me to do made a scrap of difference, but it made them happy, so who am I to argue?
It will always be easier dealing with a bank that already knows you. A lot of the f***ed-up mortgages prior to 2008 were sourced from brokers even if they were eventually sold on to a bank for servicing. "Discretion" is not necessarily a desirable thing when you're making the most expensive purchase of your life.
#8
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Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Temecula, CA
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Re: Mortgage help please
Thanks for the replies. It most definitely is a face-to-face meeting at a WF mortgage office.
I heard about the paper trail for the deposit. Being self employed with (still) most of my work coming from the UK and being XE-ed across, and with the remainder coming from PayPal (software I sell to the general public), this could prove quite... interesting. I could do PayPal reports though, which would be a good few thousand transactions so a fair bit of paper. And the other work is invoiced electronically.
No loans though, nor credit card cash advances or anything silly like that.
I heard about the paper trail for the deposit. Being self employed with (still) most of my work coming from the UK and being XE-ed across, and with the remainder coming from PayPal (software I sell to the general public), this could prove quite... interesting. I could do PayPal reports though, which would be a good few thousand transactions so a fair bit of paper. And the other work is invoiced electronically.
No loans though, nor credit card cash advances or anything silly like that.
#9
Re: Mortgage help please
Using the affordability calculators and comparing to the price of houses in the area, the former is roughly double the latter. Do we specify how much we want to borrow - in which case we go for a very conservative figure that is much lower than the theoretical maximum - or do they just give you a figure?
Is deposit much of an issue at the pre-approval stage? Put another way, do we have to show the appropriate funds while getting pre-approved? We're nearly there, just slightly short for a couple of weeks.
Any idea how long we should expect to wait for something we can wave in realtors' faces to show we're serious about buying houses?
Anyway, if you want a laugh, I heard from someone hoping to get $400K to get this place and they were offered $65K which they weren't to pleased with
#10
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Mortgage help please
Definitely shop around. You might find this useful:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnves...hese-pitfalls/
http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-c...et-a-mortgage/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnves...hese-pitfalls/
http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-c...et-a-mortgage/
#11
Re: Mortgage help please
Definitely shop around. You might find this useful:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnves...hese-pitfalls/
http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-c...et-a-mortgage/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnves...hese-pitfalls/
http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-c...et-a-mortgage/
#12
Re: Mortgage help please
Make sure you get pre-approved and not pre-qualified. There is a major difference when you make an offer.
#13
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Maryland (via Belfast, Manchester, Toronto and London)
Posts: 4,802
Re: Mortgage help please
I've refinanced my mortgage twice and I've never had the best rate from my bank so I never used them.
#14
Re: Mortgage help please
GeoffM: For an initial mortgage, you can easily get a no point mortgage but more difficult to get a no fee mortgage since there is title insurance, title transfer fee, city tax, and other fees that don't apply to a refinance.
Last edited by Michael; Mar 12th 2014 at 10:11 pm.