Visit annualcreditreport.com, a free service which allows you to review all information about yourself at Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Ensure that your information is accurate because your credit score has a large impact on how your financing shapes up.

Those with the highest FICO scores for models 2, 4, and 5 qualify for the lowest rates and lowest-cost private mortgage insurance.

Your debt-to-income ratio is another vital piece of the loan approval process. Explore items you can pay down or pay off, if possible.

How much will you be able to come up with for the down payment and closing costs for the purchase of your new home?  Best to have a figure in mind and/or a path for getting there at the outset.

Since you'll borrow money to make your purchase, which lender should you work with? This will be a tight working relationship, so as a suggestion, do a background check on the loan officers you're talking with. I've helped over 2,600 people like you get into homes in my career and the 200+ reviews I've received since 2019 rated the experience of working with me at 4.97 out of 5 stars.

Connect with and provide your information to a lending professional to learn what you are qualified to purchase, what your house payments and cash due at closing will look like, and gather a pre-approval letter so that you can be ready to move quickly on a house.   In this step your credit scores will be gathered. Best to knock out this step early in the process so your eyeballs don't outspend your wallet! If you want to go ahead and get fully pre-approved now, click HERE to start with Highland Mortgage.

A professional to take you through the process is a key part of reaching the most positive outcome. Looking for a top-shelf agent in Georgia?  My connections run deep and I know who is good and who is still developing. Click on this link ‘here’ and I’ll have one of the agents I do a lot of business with and whom you can immediately trust get in touch with you.  I’ll connect you based on the experts I have for each zip code in the state.   I work closely with them to give you a seamless and world-class experience.  

A new home loan is a major commitment, so it’s important that you receive all of the best info right at the outset.  If you select me, schedule a time on my calendar to get the things that other loan officers inevitably fail to provide.  If you are in metro Atlanta we can meet in person, and if you’re elsewhere in Georgia we can meet via Zoom, though you will not be on camera and I will not be on camera.  I’ll simply share my screen to show you vital things that move over time so you’ll know when we reach this vital milestone or that vital milestone what you are seeing. This is a level of transparency that cannot me topped, and you are always welcome to take another look over my shoulder and my live computer screen to see the actual trending market interest rates, how the market has moved over time, and such. Take me up on this offer – I have the heart of a teacher, I love my job, and I love to provide you with the essential information – on demand – to make your financing journey a success.

Armed with the knowledge that you are comfortable with a certain house payment and with a certain amount of down payment, begin searching or the home in your price range that meets the criteria you are looking for.  This is an exciting time!  A house hunt could go quickly or could take a while, so hang in there Your agent and your lender will work together to help you win the house you love.

Once you find a house that you love, you can make an offer! An offer involves a purchase contract that is usually about 10 pages of contract details about the terms of the sale. You get to propose sale terms like purchase price, closing date, inspection terms, etc. The seller can accept, reject, or counter with their own terms. Ideally, you and the seller will reach an agreement on the terms of the sale.

The house you are buying has it’s own set of history and you are buying into the history that it has. Hire a qualified inspector .  The cost will vary but it most often lands in a range from $400 to $600.  Your real estate agent is often a great resource for introducing you to a quality home inspector.

When your offer to purchase is accepted and you officially go under contract it will be time to provide an earnest money deposit.  This is typically due within 3 days of the contract going binding and is often held by the agent’s company who is representing you.

Now that you're moving from the pre-approval process to the loan approval process, get your lender the items required for underwriting. You’ll be given a list of documents to provide and these are best provided via documents in PDF format and can be securely uploaded to your personal loan portal.

At this point it's a good idea to start considering coordinating your move. Your purchase contract will spell out the date you'll have access to the home, so you'll need to consider when you'll plan on leaving your current residence and making the move into your new home.

Renting now? Don't forget, you'll want to tell your landlord with as much notice as possible once your plans become firm.

Your lender will order the appraisal of the property with a due date that will support the timelines within your contract to purchase.  The appraisal is completed to ensure that the collateral for the loan (the property you are purchasing) is worth what the sales contract assumes it is.  

Most contracts have an inspection contingency period where you have a certain amount of time to learn more about the property you wish to purchase. Often, you can exit the contract with no repercussions during this timeframe.

You'll want to carefully review your inspection report and talk through it with your real estate agent. Figure out which repairs are important and which are not that big of a deal. Home inspection reports commonly show a lot of improvements that can be made. Remember that every home has flaws. Your goal is not to buy the world's most perfect home. Your goal is to buy a home that works for you.

Ultimately, you get to decide the repairs that are dealbreakers for you.

The property you are purchasing is the collateral for the home loan, so it’s required that you insure the property against potential losses like extreme weather events, fire, and the like.  Many companies specialize in what is usually referred to as ‘homeowner’s insurance’ or ‘hazard insurance’ (they are one and the same like cars and automobiles).  Speaking of cars, it’s a good idea to check in with your current provider of your car insurance as most all companies provide multi-policy discounts and preferred rates when you bundle coverage.

Based on a rise in fraudulent activities in recent years the process of gathering the closing attorney’s wiring instructions occurs directly between you and the attorney’s office.  These instructions are often delivered securely through an online portal and before you wire it’s always a good idea to call the closing attorney’s office to a number you find online for them and confirm the account numbers to ensure the highest level of safety with your important funds.

As you near your closing date and after the appraisal has come in, your lender will ask for the final documents necessary to reach “Clear to Close” status.  This status is the ultimate goal of the financing process and roughly translates to “pencils down” status for both you and the lender. The test is complete, you have passed. All is finished, fully approved and ready for your closing date.

Three days prior to your closing you will receive a document called the Closing Disclosure.  This is a full recap of the terms of your loan, including your house payment and the final amount of money due at closing.  You’ll use this document as the basis for making your wiring arrangements. You must acknowledge this document three days prior to closing or your closing date will move, so it’s best to act quickly on it and review once it is made available to you.

For a closing in Georgia any amount due at closing which exceeds $5,000 is required to be sent to the closing attorney’s office in the form of a wire transfer.  Amounts less than $5,000 can be paid via an Official Cashier’s Check and amounts under $500 can be paid via a personal check.  It’s best to wire your funds the business day before your closing date.

This typically occurs in the hours immediately prior to closing, you visit the property to ensure that it is in the state you expect just as you are ready to take ownership and possession of it.  Were the final things you were expecting to be completed, completed? The next time you come back to the house it will be YOURS.

The majority of your final legal closing documents are signed by you electronically the morning of your closing day.  You will attend a closing appointment at a closing attorney’s office to sign the dozen documents in your loan package that require blue ink, the attorney’s signature and notary stamp, and a legal witness.  Your closing appointment, using this new technology, typically lasts about half an hour.  Once signed, you receive your keys!

You've just acquired the most expensive asset you'll ever own, so don't overlook this step. Yes, you've been covered up in the details of the purchase, but it's super-important to save all of your closing documents for reference in the future. Many closing attorneys will be able to provide you with a digital copy of the closing paperwork you signed at closing. I highly recommend you save that somewhere where it won't get lost - Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Always have access to the digital or paper copies of your purchase.

At this point you're ready to move in! Maybe a fresh coat of paint? Change the locks? New batteries in smoke detectors and such. You'll be settled in in no time! In fact, you'll KNOW you're fully moved in the first weekend you don't run to Home Depot or Lowe's for the final items for your new home.

It's time to bring the rest of the world up to speed on your new address! Inform your employer, and update your drivers license. Plus, you don't want to miss important mail from those who don't know you moved.  It's incredibly easy to have the post office forward mail to your new address. Here's the USPS link to do so.

You don't want to miss any mortgage payment, especially the first one! Your closing paperwork will have a page that tells you where and how to make your mortgage payments.

Some people like to set up auto-pay, some people write checks or pay by phone. It's up to you. Your first payment, in most cases, is due not the very next month after closing, but the 1st of the month after that. If you closed on say, October 27th, your first payment would be due December 1st.