Ready to Get Prequalified?
Mortgage Questions?
The rest of this page will answer many of your questions, and it will direct you to some of the best Loan Officers, aka Loan Originators, in our area.
Featured Mortgage Loan Originator
Brian Ohmann
Senior Loan Officer
AnnieMac Home Mortgage
Brian Ohmann has many years of experience helping people with real estate financing and knows just what it takes to make your home buying experience excellent. Brian has an extensive background in sales and customer service, is an income property investor, has flipped houses, he‘s a USMC combat veteran, and he was born and raised right here in Rochester! Get in touch with your mortgage questions today!
585.851.5551 (call/text)
Get Pre-Qualified Now
Learn about the costs associated with buying a home.
Read this brief article that explains upfront costs and monthly payments.
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Get Pre-Qualified
Unless you’re paying cash you’ll need to!
It is highly recommended that this is the very first step in the home buying process.
A pre-qualification letter is required to write offers and sometimes even to tour homes. Mortgage Loan Originators provide these letters after they’ve had the opportunity to evaluate a buyer’s individual goals and circumstances. A pre-qualification letter from a reputable local lender helps buyers shop with confidence and it is also one of the most important items a seller will consider when reviewing offers.
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What You’ll Need:
*To get started you won’t need to run credit or provide the documents mentioned below. However, you will need those things if you want to be fully pre-approved prior to making offers, or once you have an accepted offer and formally open a mortgage application.
Regardless of what bank or broker you choose, there are documents you will be asked for in order to most accurately calculate your buying power. While this is not necessarily an exhaustive list, the documents you will usually be asked to provide are as follows:
- A copy of your paystubs from the last 30-days.
- Your W2’s and federal tax returns for the last 2 years.
- All pages (even blank pages)* of your bank account statements for the last 2 months.
- A gov’t issued photo ID.
*Any documents with numbered pages have to be turned in with ALL pages, even if a page is blank. For example, if the first page of a document says “1 of 4” that means all 4 pages need to be turned in, even if a page is blank.
After You Are Pre-Qualified DO NOT:
- Co-sign someone else’s loan.
- Change or close any bank accounts.
- Make large deposits or withdrawals to or from your checking, savings, or retirement accounts.
- Apply for any new lines of credit like credit cards, store credit cards, Amazon or Apple credit cards, or any other “pay later” offers.
- Make any late payments on existing debts.
- Change or quit your job without first informing your Mortgage Loan Originator.
- Allow anyone to pull your credit report or go online and check it yourself.
- Make any large purchases like a car furniture, or appliances.
- Spend any money that is set aside for closing costs.
The Big Picture:
Getting pre-qualified should be your first priority, but there are many important steps to successfully obtaining a mortgage. Below is a rough outline of what you can expect along the way.
- Pre-Qualification: Get a mortgage pre-qualification letter.
- Go shopping (browse listings) and find a house.
- Contract: Get an accepted offer on a property.
- Application: You’ll officially open a file and apply for a loan with a Mortgage Loan Originator.
- Appraisal: Order a bank appraisal.
- Processing: During the processing step, the loan application is examined to ensure that all of the information is complete, accurate, and meets the lender’s requirements. Verifications, credit reports, appraisal results, and other necessary documents will be gathered at this time. The objective is to collect the facts that will be used to make decisions about the loan. Once this part is complete, the processor submits the application to the underwriter.
- Underwriting: Think quality assurance. Documents submitted by the processor will be reviewed and verified. The underwriter ensures the loan application meets the lender’s guidelines. They may also ask for supplemental documents to clarify or support items you’ve already submitted. If the application clears underwriting it is then sent to the lender for final review.
- Commitment: If the lender is satisfied that their standards have been met they will commit to a binding agreement to provide a mortgage.
- Insurance: After the lender issues their commitment you’ll need to purchase homeowners insurance.
- Attorney Review: The seller’s, buyer’s, and lender’s attorneys will all review the survey and title history.
- Closing: This is the final step. This is when you’ll review and sign the documents required to fund the purchase, record the mortgage, and transfer the title. You’ll need to provide a cashier’s check* to pay any remaining closing costs, less your deposit, too.
- Congratulations!: You own a home!
*You will most likely have the option to use a wire transfer if you prefer. Your attorney will provide instructions.
James Graye
Associate Real Estate Broker
585.485.8585
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Revolution Real Estate
Real Estate Broker
585.653.7700
3816 Lyell Rd, Rochester, New York 14606, United States
Call/Text: 585.485.8585 Email: james@buysellroc.com