Let me take you on a drive, a metaphoric drive.  This is an example of the loan approval process put into the perspective of taking a drive.   We are heading to Breckenridge from Denver.  And to add to the excitement and anticipation, we have a meeting to attend in 2 hours. In order to get to Breck, we will need to take the I-70 west exit.  It’s a pretty clear and a straightforward path, with minimal traffic, so there should be no expected delays and should take about an hour and a half.  

As we head out and plan on getting to I-70 west, you soon realize that you passed 6th avenue which you need to catch I-70, from where you are. So you then decide to head south on I-25, this is a problem because as you may know, I-25 only goes north and south. And Breckenridge is due west.  We now need to recalibrate our drive and figure out the best route to head west, it will now take significantly longer whether we choose to make a u-turn and get back in the right direction or if we move forward and look to see what the next best route may be.  Either way we need to start heading west and now our path will take approximately two and a half hours or more, with many more turns and many winding roads, so hopefully you don’t get car sick! Expect to get a little frustrated, impatient and possibly confused.  Especially since we will be late to our appointment! We didn’t state what the appointment was for but if it were work, we may be reprimanded by suspension, demotion or possibly even let go.   Regardless of what the appointment is for, if you are over an hour late there will be consequences.   

Maybe it would have been better to make a u-turn, this would have still caused for a minimum of a 30-minute delay, making it just barely made  the appointment, which is still extremely stressful because you are constantly worried about making it on time throughout the whole drive.  Hoping you don’t run into any traffic or anything else that could cause one more minute of delay.

Now, take this thought and apply it to dealing with your loan officer. When you started you said you had money in savings. As it turned out that was your parents savings account and they were to gift you the money. So through the process the lender asks for your bank statements only to see the money is not there. It is at that point you tell them, it is a gift from your parents (This is going to result in a definite change of the lender’s needs) Or you said you earned commissions, but didn’t mention that those only started in 2016, and you had never received commission income before ( A good lender will want full disclosure on income upfront, but be leery of a lender who only asks what you make “per month/year” and doesn’t ask questions). These examples are a few detours a lender deals with when processing your mortgage application. None of us like detours or when the freeway goes from three lanes to one with traffic backing up. If the lender is told one thing, and the material documentation that you send to them changes, then it can change entirely what they need to ask for in addition to getting your loan approved.

So if you are asking yourself “Why do they keep asking for this?” Maybe think, did I give them all the details to get to Breck on I-70 on time? Or did I end up making them take 287, to Highway 9 over Kenosha Pass? Happy Travels!

For more information or if you have any questions please give us a call.