Seattle Mortgage & Housing Market Insights

These are some of the things that homeowners and borrowers must try to adhere during the refinancing or home buying process:

• Do provide the whole truth and nothing but the truth in completing your loan application. I am here to assist in every step of your way. 
• Do get your Pre-Approval before going house hunting.
  
• Buying a condo? Please read these new rules starting Jan. 1st 2022.
• Do have these items on the checklist readily available.
• Do stay put and do not plan any travelling until after your loan documents have been recorded by escrow at closing.  Washington is a Homestead State that even non-borrowing spouse is required to sign the security instruments and applicable riders at closing.  
• Do pay attention to  these escrow/bank legal holidays for  our closings in 2025 as defined by RCW 1.16.050.
• Do check your credit report yourself. So much is depending on the scores and the content of the credit report. Eliminate any surprises early on during the process such as unknown collections, late payments, judgement or tax lien and disputed accounts.
• Do have at least 3 credit cards with utilization and payment history for at least 24 months to establish credit score. If you are credit invisible which means you don't have a credit report on file with the three major credit bureuas - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, please inquire about our non-traditional credit profile. 
• Do your shopping for mortgage rates within the first 30 days of loan application. This will reduce the impact on the credit scores and makes it easier for us to explain on all those inquiries.
• Do not open a new trade line, make major purchases on credit card, apply for a new credit card, departmental store, auto loan, co-sign a loan or anything that will impact the credit scores and create more liabilities (wait until you have at least received the key for your new house first).  In today's strick underwriting guidelines, borrower's Debt-to-Income (DTI) ratio must no go over 45%. This rule is further restricted with implementation of Qualified Mortgage rule on Jan 10th 2014.  
• Do not close any of your existing accounts especially those with more than 3 years credit history.  If you are unhappy with the credit vendor - wait until your financing is done, then close the account. 
• Do not pay off debts or collections unless instructed by me. 
• Do understand these limits on seller concessions.
• Do provide us with the contact information of your preferred insurance agent to obtain property insurance quote.
• Do pay all your bills on time. Lenders will re-pull credit after 60 days.
• Do provide your bankruptcy-discharge papers if it happened within the last couple of years. 
• Do not quit your job. You may change job within the same field provided that it's at least a lateral move and please provide us with a job offer letter should you change employment. 
• Part-time employment. You must have been steadily and continuously employed for the last 2 years. Declining part-time income is not allowable.
• Do provide us with a copy of the divorce decree if you are receiving income from alimony or child support. 
• Self-employed - Do talk to us first before you even started. Self-employed borrowers require special attention.
• Do provide 2 most current month bank statements, investment records or retirement accounts that make up a large part of your financial picture. 
• Do keep the funds in the bank untouched until after closing. The bank wants to ensure that you have enough verifiable funds to close and unexpected expenses after you close on the house. 
• Do not use cash for earnest money deposit since cash is difficult to verify and could result in a closing delay. If you must use cash - it must be deposited to your bank account at least 2 months in advance.
• Do provide bank transaction activity (bank statement) to show bank balances before and after the earnest money check has cleared the account. These are other underwriting items that may require your assistance.
• Do not make any large deposits (defined as more than 50% of the total monthly qualifying income for the loan) other than payroll checks without paper trail. By that I mean, I need to see a copy of the check and where does it come from. The reason is I do not want to see a new liability created from the cash infusion. Gift funds are acceptable but consult with me first for proper procedures of doing it.
  
• Real estate brokers - please review this checklist when writing up Purchase and Sale Agreement.  
• More information on closing on time here. 
• Do not use Automated Clearing House (ACH) to wire required funds to close to escrow such as direct deposits.  Escrow does not accept ACH funds and it will delay closing. Escrow will accept wire via fed funds (same day funds) or cashier check only for funds required to close. 
  Please do not wait until the last minute to wire funds to escrow. 
  Please follow these safety tips when wiring funds to escrow.  
  
  If your buying time horizon is not immediate - please read more here to improve your chance for approval.