Getting a mortgage. To some of us it is a  unsettling process full of trepidation and fears. For others it is just task to be done. So what should you plan on running into if you are about to take advantage of good interest rates and buy a home? What should you be mentally prepared for  in the process?

Well alot- but don’t let it overwhelm you or stress you out. Certainly don’t let the idea of obtaining a mortgage stop you from buying a home. Instead realize that there is a set process that is followed. Let the process run itself and accept that you just have to wait for all of it to work it’s way through a byzantine system of layers. The days of quick review are past and the  former legions of staffers sitting around waiting to process things has vanished. Yet the number of loans being processed is very high. Not because there is an unknown housing boom but because there is an unknown refinance boom taking advantage of rates before they go up!

So what should you keep in mind?

1.Keep in mind  that you are the customer and the mortgage banker or broker you select gets paid because you chose them to work with you. Select someone whom you are comfortable with, someone who communicates well with you. If in your initial discussion you feel that you are not meshing with those you are considering- find someone you do mesh with. There are lots of mortgage bankers and brokers out there.

2. You will have to answer questions and locate info that may not make any sense to you. In this day of electronic info there  are endless amounts of information about people with your name. “Is this you?” is a common question.  

3. You should know that the days of easy as pie, sign here today and move in tomorrow loans  are basically relegated to history. You should expect that they will want  lots of financial information ranging from tax forms to bank statements. They need  all this  even  from  those with perfect credit! This makes sense since many recent bad loans had very little documentation that verfied enough info to help the bank know who they were loaning money.

4. You should expect it to take longer than you think it should to get approval, go through underwriting and for them to arrange funding your loan. There is a back log at each step of the way. What used to take  2-3 weeks takes 4-5.

5. You should be prepared to ask questions about things you do not understand. It is ok to say “So what does that mean to me?” It is ok to say “Explain that to me again”.

6. Expect that sometimes the answer will be ” I don’t know”, “They will let us know when they are done and I have no idea when they will be done”, “Yes, we can do that” and “Well here is what we need that we did not know we needed”.

When you know that those things are coming and are part of the process it is not as overwhelming. Don’t be intimidated by the process, understand it instead. At the start, ask for an outline of how the mortgage application and process works, know that it will seem a bit odd at times and know that if millions of people who are not nearly as savvy as you are can do it- then someone as brilliant and as prepared as you are can.