The process
Seven stages, and the day count on each
No stage is a surprise and no stage is padded. This is what actually happens, in the order it happens, with the documents each one needs.
Stage by stage
From the first call to the settlement table
- 01
The first call
25 minutesGoal, timeline, credit as you understand it, and cash available. No application, no credit pull, no obligation.
- 02
Documents and one credit pull
Days 1 to 3Income, assets and identification. One hard pull, used at every desk. Multiple mortgage enquiries inside 45 days count as one.
- 03
Pricing across the panel
Day 3 to 4The same file quoted at several wholesale lenders on the same day, compared on net cost rather than headline rate.
- 04
Underwritten pre-approval
Day 5 to 7Income and assets verified by an underwriter before the letter is issued, so a listing agent can rely on it.
- 05
Contract, lock and appraisal
Day 1 of contractAppraisal ordered the day the contract is ratified. Lock term chosen against the real settlement date.
- 06
Conditions cleared in batches
Days 7 to 21Every outstanding item in one list, not a trickle of emails. Status update every Tuesday and Friday regardless.
- 07
Closing disclosure and settlement
Day 22 onwardThe disclosure arrives at least three business days before signing. We read it line by line against the loan estimate together.
Stage 02
What to have ready before you call
Nothing exotic, and nothing you need to prepare in advance. Have it findable rather than gathered, and the pre-approval takes days instead of weeks.
Everyone
- Photo identification
- Two months of statements for every account you will use
- Authorisation to pull credit once
Wage earners
- Thirty days of pay stubs
- Two years of W-2 forms
- Employer name, address and HR contact for verification
Self-employed
- Two years of personal and business tax returns, every page
- Year-to-date profit and loss statement
- Business licence or state registration
Anyone with a gift
- Signed gift letter with the relationship stated
- Donor bank statement showing the funds
- Wire confirmation or cancelled cheque
Stage 07Checklist
Twelve questions to ask any lender, including me
Print it, screenshot it, read it down the phone. A lender who answers all twelve without hesitating is worth talking to. A lender who deflects on the third one is telling you something.
See how my process answers them
- Is this a lock or a quote?A quote is a hypothetical. A lock has a number, an expiry date and a desk behind it.
- What is the lock expiry date, in writing?Extensions cost roughly 0.03 points a day. Nobody volunteers that figure.
- Do you offer a float-down, and what triggers it?Usually one per loan, a 0.250% market improvement, about 0.125 points to exercise.
- What is your origination charge in section A?Section A of the loan estimate is the lender's own fee. Compare that, not the headline rate.
- Are you quoting me par, or a discount point buydown?A rate that beats everyone usually has points buried in section A.
- What is the mid FICO you priced this at?Pricing moves in score bands. A quote at 760 is worthless if your middle score is 738.
- Is the mortgage insurance monthly, single, split or lender-paid?Four structures, four very different five-year costs.
- Will you underwrite the file before issuing the pre-approval?A letter based on an unverified application is not worth showing a listing agent.
- Who actually underwrites this loan?With a broker it is the wholesale lender. You are entitled to know which one.
- What is the turn time on conditions this week?Not the marketing number. The number for this week, at this desk.
- Do you sell my loan, and to whom?Servicing transfers are normal. Being surprised by one is not.
- What is on the closing disclosure that is not on the loan estimate?The answer should be almost nothing, and any change has a tolerance rule behind it.
A bank loan officer sells one rulebook and one price sheet. A broker takes your file to a panel of wholesale lenders and places it where the guidelines and the pricing fit best. When a file has a complication, the broker can move it; the bank officer can only decline it.
On roughly four out of five of my files the wholesale lender pays my compensation out of the rate, and you pay no origination charge at all. On the rest, you pay it directly and the rate sheet is quoted without it. The compensation percentage is fixed in advance and cannot change by borrower or by programme.
No. I pull credit once and use that single report across the panel. Beyond that, the scoring models treat multiple mortgage enquiries inside a 45-day window as one event, so even a second pull elsewhere does not compound.
The wholesale lender does. I prepare and present the file, but the underwriting decision belongs to the lender whose money it is. You are entitled to know which lender that is, and it is on every disclosure you sign.
Sometimes the original lender, often a servicer they sell to. Servicing transfers are routine and governed by federal notice requirements. Your rate, term and balance do not change when one happens.
Send the loan estimate rather than the rate. Section A tells me what the lender is actually charging, and section E tells me what the state is charging. Comparing complete loan estimates is the only honest comparison.
Stage one takes twenty-five minutes
Goal, timeline, credit as you understand it, and cash available. No application, no credit pull and no obligation at the end of it.
Three wholesale quotes on the same day's pricing, before you choose.