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Tips For a Successful Mortgage

Mortgage Resources

We want to make the mortgage loan process as easy possible for our customers. That’s why we’ve compiled helpful mortgage resources and articles that can assist you when deciding to apply for a mortgage loan.

Mortgage Application Checklist

Before filling out the application, you should have this information available:

  • Address of your current residence and addresses for your residences from the last two years. If renting, please list the name, address and phone number of all landlords you have had in the last two years.
  • Social Security Numbers for all borrowers
  • Employment history for all borrowers for the past two years, including employer(s): name, address and phone number
  • Income information for all borrowers, including salary, overtime, bonuses, commissions, interest/dividends, retirement income and other sources of regular income
  • Price of the home you are buying, how much you’d like to borrow and the address of the property
  • Amount of current debt you hold

After filling out the application, you will be contacted by one of our Mortgage Loan Officers, who will provide you with disclosures regarding your application. After receiving the disclosures from us, you should have the following documents available to continue the loan process:

  • The most recent paystub and W2 for all borrowers
  • The two most recent bank statements for each bank account owned by all borrowers
  • Your driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID
  • If self-employed, most recent two years tax returns (personal and business) all schedules and all W2s
  • Personal tax returns and W-2s from the past two years
  • If a purchase, a copy of the purchase agreement

Things to Avoid When Applying For a Mortgage

There are certain activities that can affect the approval of your mortgage loan application. To help ensure your mortgage application is successful, please try to avoid these things:

  • Applying for any new credit cards
  • Buying a new or used vehicle
  • Skipping or forgetting to make monthly payments
  • Buying appliances or furniture with in-store financing
  • Overdrawing your checking account
  • Quitting or changing jobs – Your employment will be verified at the beginning of the loan and prior to closing to make sure you are still employed. If you quit your job your loan may be denied. If you change jobs/employers your closing may be delayed due to the fact we may need 30 days of income verified with the new employer to make sure your income still qualifies you for the loan.
  • Charging large amounts on your credit cards – Your credit report will be pulled at the beginning of your loan and again before you close on your loan. This is to make sure your payments are on time, have no new credit and your current balances on your credit cards have not increased. If any of this happens, this could jeopardize the approval of your mortgage loan.
  • Spending large amounts of cash from your checking or savings accounts– You will need a specific amount of funds to close on your loan. If this money is not in your account prior to closing, your loan may be denied or delayed. If you overdraw your account during the process of the loan, the loan may be denied.

Mortgage Calculators

See how much your mortgage would cost over time with our handy mortgage calculator and explore what it would take to pay off your mortgage early with the early mortgage payoff calculator.