Hunting Houses (original) (raw)

I know a lot of you are still just looking at houses, but this is something I wish I'd had before we started looking. We got an FHA loan for our house and in order to qualify we needed to fill out an insane amount of paperwork. A lot of it was stuff we didn't have on hand and had to request. So if any of you house hunters are going FHA it might make the mortgage process a bit smoother if you have all of these items in advance if at all possible. Obviously you won't be able to get your most recent pay stubs in advance. :-) So in the order it was asked for from us, here is all the paperwork we needed to supply for our loan.

* W2s for the last 2 years

* Current pay stubs for the last month

* Proof of your funds for your down payment and closing costs. We had to supply statements from the savings account where our down payment was, and then a statement from our bank showing the funds had been transferred. If someone else is giving you the down payment as a gift they will need to write a letter saying they're going to give you the money.

* A credit explanation letter explaining the derogatory credit information on your credit report. The mortgage company should give you a list of all derogatory items.

* An insurance company will need to be selected and a policy in place right before you go to close on the property. Our company faxed confirmation to our mortgage broker for us.

* Signed and dated mortgage application. (Obviously!)

* Appraisal fee check. Ours was $325. Send certified mail or we returned it via Fed Ex with our mortgage paperwork.

* Signed and dated credit inquiry letter addressing all recent inquiries in your credit report. Your mortgage company should supply you the list of all the inquiries.

* If you have money taken out of your paycheck for back taxes or child support you will have to supply paperwork stating what is being taken out and why. Mike has child support taken out of his paycheck so he had to provide some additional forms too.

* Mike had to supply a copy of the fully executed divorce decree or child support order that details out the terms of the child support.

* Signed and dated letter on letter head from the child support enforcement agency that the child support is current and there is nothing in arrears.

In addition we had to supply the previous year's taxes to our mortgage broker. We found that information on our county auditor's site.

If you have any questions about the process or what we had to do, please ask.