November 26, 2023 • 16 mins
In this episode I go over the key elements of what is needed to get a pre-approval letter. This letter is what you need to start shopping for a home. In subsequent episodes, I will go more in depth on explaining each of these key elements.
The key elements to get a mortgage pre-approval are:
- Credit. Know your credit! Request a free credit report from Annual Credit Report.com to verify what is on your credit and address incorrect or negative information.
- Income and Income Verification.
- Down payment. Most lenders require you contribute to the loan in the form of a minimum down payment. This can come from your savings, gifts, grants, down payment assistance, silent loans etc.
- Debt-to-Income Ratio, this very important number is the percentage of your income that you use to pay debt. It is that number that tells us what mortgage payment you are able to afford along with all the other debts that are reported on your credit.
- Mortgage type that you qualify for. The most common are FHA, Conventional, VA, USDA but there are other loan type like DSCR, Bank Statement Loans, ect.
- The Pre-Approval letter, this is the letter you get from a lender, it gives you a clear budget and tells realtors and sellers that you are serious.
If you have any questions or suggestions for a podcast please feel free to send me an email at REtienne@rhfny.com or on Whatsapp at 516-253-4865
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Regine (00:01):
Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to dollars and dwellingsthe podcast that unlocks the
secret of financial success andhomeownership.
I'm your host Regine Etienne.
and today we're going to talkabout a topic for anyone.
dreaming of owning their ownpiece of Real Estate.
Getting approved.
a for mortgage.
(00:23):
So you found your dream home,but how do you turn that dream
into reality?
It starts with the mortgage.
So today we're going to breakdown the key elements you need
to secure that coveted mortgage.
So let's get started step.
Step one, know your creditscore.
Lenders use.
(00:43):
That three digit number to.
Evaluate your credit worthiness.
The higher, the score, thebetter your chances of approval.
So if your credit.
needs a boost consider takingsteps to improve it before
applying.
Well you can apply me what I dowith my borrowers.
I encourage them to applybecause my belief is that in
(01:06):
order to get in the game, youneed to know where you stand.
So what I do, usually I look attheir credit I do a preliminary
of the credit app one file.
And then that tells me wherethey stand right now.
And I, and then I give them waysto improve the credit for
mortgage purposes, because it'snot everything that's on your
(01:30):
credit.
That you need to pay off., We'regoing to do a podcast just on
credit, but right now I want youto know that you need to know
your credit.
So go ahead.
There is an annual creditreport.com do not use, credit
karma.
Credit karma is not formortgage.
(01:51):
You can pull your credit onannual credit report.com and
that will give you, from allthree bureaus.
And then you'll be able toevaluate.
What your credit is like, if youwant to do score, usually you
have to pay for it, but I don'tneed the score.
You know, I wouldn't need thescore right now.
I would need to see what's onyour credit.
(02:13):
And that would tell me.
As far as history.
Payment what's on your creditwhere you stand so first, know
your credit.
So go to annual creditreport.com and pull your credit.
So step two it's income andemployment verification.
(02:33):
Lenders want to ensure that youhave a stable income to make
those monthly payments.
And, and prepare to have yourpay stubs.
We asked for like one month.
Worth of pay stub.
All your W2's for the past twoyears.
If you self-employed.
Prepare your tax returns.
For the past two years and otherincome documentation that proves
(02:56):
your financial stability.
So if you are on socialsecurity, that's income.
If you on disability, thatincome, if you have child
support, that can be used asincome, you know?
They all have their ownguidelines.
But it could be used at incomeand annuity.
You know, all these things, wecan look at it and there's a lot
(03:19):
of things that can be part ofyour income.
You know, a good loan officerwill ask you more questions.
You know about, about things,because sometimes you might not
think it's income and it is sobelieve it or not.
Unemployment can be income, ifyou are someone who works a
seasonal jobs.
(03:40):
And after, you know, you let'ssay you work nine months out of
the year and.
The next three months, you doget unemployment check.
And this is something that hasbeen going on for at least two
years, then unemployment can beincome.
Step three.
Down-payment so saving for adown payment is a significant
(04:02):
milestone.
Most lender require a percentageof the home purchase price of
front.
So that's your contribution tothe loan.
And the more you can put down,the more favorable terms you'll
get, because the more you investin yourself, the most secure the
lender gets, because believe itor not.
I mean, most people don'tunderstand that it's two of you
(04:26):
buying the house.
It's you.
And the lender.
The lenders investing most ofthe money.
But the more you can invest withyou the more, the better the
terms That you're going to get.
Cause that that's a thing thatfactors into the rate also.
So how do you save.
I tell people, um, You know,Income is something that either
(04:50):
you have to create by.
Doing something.
On the side.
Or you have to take side hustlesor use the talent that God gave
you and make something out ofit.
Or if you do make money on ourpeople make money, but they
spend too much.
So look at your bank statement.
What do I spend money on that Ido not need to spend.
(05:12):
Um, one time I had a borrower, Isaid that would making a lot of
money.
But then we're not saving a lotof money.
And I was like, Can I don't wantto see all Ben's statement.
Let's go over your bankstatement for the best.
For the past three months.
So, you know, people have to bepretty, people have to have a
life and enjoy life.
(05:33):
Yes.
But when you have a goal to buyhome, you have to shift your
mindset.
So the luxury goods out.
The eating out every day out.
You know, Starbuck is gonna needto turn into coffee at home, um,
or, you know, the weave and thenails and the lashes.
(05:55):
All these things you might haveto go with what God gave you for
awhile.
You know, and make it pretty.
Uh, so those are the things thatwe had to do for her to save
some money and believe it ornot.
By cutting down.
She was able to buy the housewithin a year.
So that's, you know, saving,there are strategies to saving
(06:16):
and.
All the things I'm talking abouttoday.
We going to have a podcast justfor that to break it down.
Because it's, this is why, nowthis is just the surface.
There's so much.
That goes into each one ofthose, you know, steps, key
elements of buying a house.
And then step four days, thedebt to income ratio.
(06:39):
So the lender, we look at yourdebt in relation to your income.
So we tell all borrowers, youhave to keep your ratio as low
as possible by paying downexisting debt.
And this way it shows thelenders that you know how to
manage additional financialresponsibilities.
(07:01):
It is by your habit on creditthat a lender knows you.
They do not know you.
you know, from Adam and Eve, sothey know you on paper, they
know you through your bankstatement.
They know you by how you workyour job.
They get to know you.
through how you pay things onyour credit.
(07:21):
So, this is a way where a lendercan objectively.
Learn of someone's character.
Because we can't get to knoweveryone, you know, I can't be a
friend, you know, even when I'mdoing.
Your mortgage.
I I, as much as I love you, I'mI'm your friend.
You're my, you're my bestfriend.
I have to judge you by what ispaper.
(07:44):
So.
manage.
Debt to income ratio, right?
So it is how much of yourincome.
Or you using to pay your debt?
Some people make a hundredthousand,$200,000 a year.
And they cannot buy a house.
Because they have so much backin end debt that's on there.
(08:06):
Credit that they are paying.
The car.
The line of credit, the, all thecredit cards, the.
The vacation, um, you know,timeshare.
You know, all these things gointo your debt to income ratio.
They would call it back endratio.
Sure.
That's that's not somethingthat's related to the house that
(08:29):
you paying, but it's somethingthat's related to your debt.
That's on your credit report.
So that's called back end ratioso for.
Uh, for example, 46%.
I'm like nine, nine of yourincome.
Is what we allocate to pay yourhouse.
(08:52):
So that's for the FHA loan,conventional loans have a
different ratio.
It's 50.
It's 50.
So that means that if you'remaking a hundred dollars, W
convened conventional stage, youcan only use$50 to pay your, all
your debt.
(09:12):
Alright, all your debt together.
So they give you a limit.
They make a budget for you.
That's why some people can pay.
All right.
But they cannot pay a mortgagebecause.
Rent do not factor your debt toincome ratio, but mortgage does.
So they do have a budget thatdeep for you that they have to,
(09:35):
um, abide by.
So it is, you have to be mindfulof what how you spend your money
and how you use your debt.
So debt to income ratio is veryimportant.
That's one of the factors that alot of time make somebody do not
qualify.
It's not that you're not makingmoney.
(09:56):
It is that you are spending toomuch money.
Paying down debt.
Um, so.
Be mindful of that.
So we'll, we'll w I.
I I'll show you what it lookslike as well.
Cause I'm going to make videos.
That you know, where I show youvisually.
Are you going to see my face?
(10:17):
You're going to see slides.
And I'm going to show youvisually of what it looks like.
So look.
Uh, on our Facebook, um, andInstagram and, you know, social
media pages.
And you'll be able to see thoseas well.
And I'll do some podcasts thatare video, um, that'll video as
well.
So you guys can meet me inperson and see and see what, um,
(10:40):
what I'm talking about visually.
And also you have.
The step four.
That's step five, step five.
You have to choose the rightmortgage.
There are many mortgage options.
There is the FHA loan.
There is the conventional loanwithin conventional we have
(11:00):
HomeReady and home possible.
You can take a loan and withinthe loan, you can also fix your
house.
There is VA loan USDA loan.
So there's all top of loan,programs to help a borrower.
And it's, uh, it's the job ofall loan officers to tell to.
(11:21):
You know, to guide you as towhich are better for you, they
have to give you a choice.
So understanding the differenceswill help you select the loan
that aligns with your financialgoals.
So step six So before you can gohouse hunting.
It's good to have a pre-approvalletter.
This is the letter that tellsyou.
Okay.
(11:42):
Well, based on what we see rightnow, this is what you can do.
Um, and it depends on the areatoo, because every single house,
every single house have theirown.
Tax their own, you know,homeowners insurance.
No nothing is, is cookie cutterin mortgage.
(12:02):
So that's why I tell people donot listen to what other people
tell you because your mortgageis very, very personal.
It is not because someone has a,this mortgage went through this
experience that you're going togo through the same thing.
Mortgage rules or not cookiecutters.
(12:24):
We have guidelines that we haveto go by.
But a good loan officer like me,we know how to.
Navigate through the guidelinesand get you home.
It's crucial to consult amortgage loan, professional for
personalized advice.
Because, like I said, Mortgageis very, very personal.
(12:46):
It is not your mother'smortgage.
It is not your cousin who justbought a house.
It's your mortgage.
It's your circumstances.
Because no, you don't need to beworking two years to buy a
house.
The minimum is six months.
We'll go over those things.
When I talk about.
Income.
When I delve deeper into whatincome and what type of income
(13:10):
and how we calculate the income.
So, yeah, so this is today's.
So this is what we got, we, wetalked about.
So the key elements of a preapproval is credit.
know, your credit.
It's income.
So save those pay stubs.
I know that, you know,technology, nobody really would
(13:30):
look at their pay stubs anymore.
They know they get paid.
It's good to look at your paystub.
Because, we see a lot of thingsin a pay stub.
So save your W2's for the pasttwo years if you are
self-employed or if you have ahouse that you're renting, if
you have.
Other income that goes into yourtax returns, save all pages of
(13:54):
your tax returns.
Save your business tax returns.
If you're on social security, wewant to see your award letter.
If you there is child support,save those child support papers
from the court we don't want it.
Verbally, we need paperwork saveall that.
So, um, we look at downpaymentsaving, Debt to income ratio.
(14:19):
We analyze the data and we tellyou what your debt to income
ratio.
We always do.
Is, does it fit if it doesn'tfit?
Always to make it fit.
We'll tell you.
And also choose the rightmortgage type.
Because not every, some mortgagerequired the we present.
You can get all conventionalalone.
(14:40):
At 3%.
It's possible.
We will tell you what'savailable based on what we see
when we do the analysis.
But it's good to learn.
It's good for you to know.
So you can know, is, is themortgage loan officer giving me
the right information.
It's also good to shop around.
I want to teach you guys how toget in a position to get a
(15:06):
mortgage and to know whensomebody is giving you the right
information.
And I want to encourage you toalso go look up these things for
yourself keep your credit.
If you want to get the bestrate.
the best rate somebody can havewith the 740 credit score can be
one thing one day and tomorrowis a different thing.
(15:29):
Same thing for somebody who hasa 580 credit.
I hope that I was clear, but ifyou have any questions, feel
free to call me.
My number is available.
I find don't answer.
I do leave a message.
And my email address as well.
You can send me a message andI'll do my best to return it in
(15:51):
a timely manner.
But I will return it.
If I do get the message.
So, um, so thank you for tuningin today for dollars and
dwelling, and we hope thisepisode brings you one step
closer to unlocking the door toyour dream home.
And join us next time for moreinsight into the world of
finance and home ownership.
(16:12):
Until then this is Regine yourhost.
Signing off.
See you next time on dollars indwellings.
Have a blessed day.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to dollars and dwellingsthe podcast that unlocks the
secret of financial success andhomeownership.
I'm your host Regine Etienne.
and today we're going to talkabout a topic for anyone.
dreaming of owning their ownpiece of Real Estate.
Getting approved.
a for mortgage.
(00:23):
So you found your dream home,but how do you turn that dream
into reality?
It starts with the mortgage.
So today we're going to breakdown the key elements you need
to secure that coveted mortgage.
So let's get started step.
Step one, know your creditscore.
Lenders use.
(00:43):
That three digit number to.
Evaluate your credit worthiness.
The higher, the score, thebetter your chances of approval.
So if your credit.
needs a boost consider takingsteps to improve it before
applying.
Well you can apply me what I dowith my borrowers.
I encourage them to applybecause my belief is that in
(01:06):
order to get in the game, youneed to know where you stand.
So what I do, usually I look attheir credit I do a preliminary
of the credit app one file.
And then that tells me wherethey stand right now.
And I, and then I give them waysto improve the credit for
mortgage purposes, because it'snot everything that's on your
(01:30):
credit.
That you need to pay off., We'regoing to do a podcast just on
credit, but right now I want youto know that you need to know
your credit.
So go ahead.
There is an annual creditreport.com do not use, credit
karma.
Credit karma is not formortgage.
(01:51):
You can pull your credit onannual credit report.com and
that will give you, from allthree bureaus.
And then you'll be able toevaluate.
What your credit is like, if youwant to do score, usually you
have to pay for it, but I don'tneed the score.
You know, I wouldn't need thescore right now.
I would need to see what's onyour credit.
(02:13):
And that would tell me.
As far as history.
Payment what's on your creditwhere you stand so first, know
your credit.
So go to annual creditreport.com and pull your credit.
So step two it's income andemployment verification.
(02:33):
Lenders want to ensure that youhave a stable income to make
those monthly payments.
And, and prepare to have yourpay stubs.
We asked for like one month.
Worth of pay stub.
All your W2's for the past twoyears.
If you self-employed.
Prepare your tax returns.
For the past two years and otherincome documentation that proves
(02:56):
your financial stability.
So if you are on socialsecurity, that's income.
If you on disability, thatincome, if you have child
support, that can be used asincome, you know?
They all have their ownguidelines.
But it could be used at incomeand annuity.
You know, all these things, wecan look at it and there's a lot
(03:19):
of things that can be part ofyour income.
You know, a good loan officerwill ask you more questions.
You know about, about things,because sometimes you might not
think it's income and it is sobelieve it or not.
Unemployment can be income, ifyou are someone who works a
seasonal jobs.
(03:40):
And after, you know, you let'ssay you work nine months out of
the year and.
The next three months, you doget unemployment check.
And this is something that hasbeen going on for at least two
years, then unemployment can beincome.
Step three.
Down-payment so saving for adown payment is a significant
(04:02):
milestone.
Most lender require a percentageof the home purchase price of
front.
So that's your contribution tothe loan.
And the more you can put down,the more favorable terms you'll
get, because the more you investin yourself, the most secure the
lender gets, because believe itor not.
I mean, most people don'tunderstand that it's two of you
(04:26):
buying the house.
It's you.
And the lender.
The lenders investing most ofthe money.
But the more you can invest withyou the more, the better the
terms That you're going to get.
Cause that that's a thing thatfactors into the rate also.
So how do you save.
I tell people, um, You know,Income is something that either
(04:50):
you have to create by.
Doing something.
On the side.
Or you have to take side hustlesor use the talent that God gave
you and make something out ofit.
Or if you do make money on ourpeople make money, but they
spend too much.
So look at your bank statement.
What do I spend money on that Ido not need to spend.
(05:12):
Um, one time I had a borrower, Isaid that would making a lot of
money.
But then we're not saving a lotof money.
And I was like, Can I don't wantto see all Ben's statement.
Let's go over your bankstatement for the best.
For the past three months.
So, you know, people have to bepretty, people have to have a
life and enjoy life.
(05:33):
Yes.
But when you have a goal to buyhome, you have to shift your
mindset.
So the luxury goods out.
The eating out every day out.
You know, Starbuck is gonna needto turn into coffee at home, um,
or, you know, the weave and thenails and the lashes.
(05:55):
All these things you might haveto go with what God gave you for
awhile.
You know, and make it pretty.
Uh, so those are the things thatwe had to do for her to save
some money and believe it ornot.
By cutting down.
She was able to buy the housewithin a year.
So that's, you know, saving,there are strategies to saving
(06:16):
and.
All the things I'm talking abouttoday.
We going to have a podcast justfor that to break it down.
Because it's, this is why, nowthis is just the surface.
There's so much.
That goes into each one ofthose, you know, steps, key
elements of buying a house.
And then step four days, thedebt to income ratio.
(06:39):
So the lender, we look at yourdebt in relation to your income.
So we tell all borrowers, youhave to keep your ratio as low
as possible by paying downexisting debt.
And this way it shows thelenders that you know how to
manage additional financialresponsibilities.
(07:01):
It is by your habit on creditthat a lender knows you.
They do not know you.
you know, from Adam and Eve, sothey know you on paper, they
know you through your bankstatement.
They know you by how you workyour job.
They get to know you.
through how you pay things onyour credit.
(07:21):
So, this is a way where a lendercan objectively.
Learn of someone's character.
Because we can't get to knoweveryone, you know, I can't be a
friend, you know, even when I'mdoing.
Your mortgage.
I I, as much as I love you, I'mI'm your friend.
You're my, you're my bestfriend.
I have to judge you by what ispaper.
(07:44):
So.
manage.
Debt to income ratio, right?
So it is how much of yourincome.
Or you using to pay your debt?
Some people make a hundredthousand,$200,000 a year.
And they cannot buy a house.
Because they have so much backin end debt that's on there.
(08:06):
Credit that they are paying.
The car.
The line of credit, the, all thecredit cards, the.
The vacation, um, you know,timeshare.
You know, all these things gointo your debt to income ratio.
They would call it back endratio.
Sure.
That's that's not somethingthat's related to the house that
(08:29):
you paying, but it's somethingthat's related to your debt.
That's on your credit report.
So that's called back end ratioso for.
Uh, for example, 46%.
I'm like nine, nine of yourincome.
Is what we allocate to pay yourhouse.
(08:52):
So that's for the FHA loan,conventional loans have a
different ratio.
It's 50.
It's 50.
So that means that if you'remaking a hundred dollars, W
convened conventional stage, youcan only use$50 to pay your, all
your debt.
(09:12):
Alright, all your debt together.
So they give you a limit.
They make a budget for you.
That's why some people can pay.
All right.
But they cannot pay a mortgagebecause.
Rent do not factor your debt toincome ratio, but mortgage does.
So they do have a budget thatdeep for you that they have to,
(09:35):
um, abide by.
So it is, you have to be mindfulof what how you spend your money
and how you use your debt.
So debt to income ratio is veryimportant.
That's one of the factors that alot of time make somebody do not
qualify.
It's not that you're not makingmoney.
(09:56):
It is that you are spending toomuch money.
Paying down debt.
Um, so.
Be mindful of that.
So we'll, we'll w I.
I I'll show you what it lookslike as well.
Cause I'm going to make videos.
That you know, where I show youvisually.
Are you going to see my face?
(10:17):
You're going to see slides.
And I'm going to show youvisually of what it looks like.
So look.
Uh, on our Facebook, um, andInstagram and, you know, social
media pages.
And you'll be able to see thoseas well.
And I'll do some podcasts thatare video, um, that'll video as
well.
So you guys can meet me inperson and see and see what, um,
(10:40):
what I'm talking about visually.
And also you have.
The step four.
That's step five, step five.
You have to choose the rightmortgage.
There are many mortgage options.
There is the FHA loan.
There is the conventional loanwithin conventional we have
(11:00):
HomeReady and home possible.
You can take a loan and withinthe loan, you can also fix your
house.
There is VA loan USDA loan.
So there's all top of loan,programs to help a borrower.
And it's, uh, it's the job ofall loan officers to tell to.
(11:21):
You know, to guide you as towhich are better for you, they
have to give you a choice.
So understanding the differenceswill help you select the loan
that aligns with your financialgoals.
So step six So before you can gohouse hunting.
It's good to have a pre-approvalletter.
This is the letter that tellsyou.
Okay.
(11:42):
Well, based on what we see rightnow, this is what you can do.
Um, and it depends on the areatoo, because every single house,
every single house have theirown.
Tax their own, you know,homeowners insurance.
No nothing is, is cookie cutterin mortgage.
(12:02):
So that's why I tell people donot listen to what other people
tell you because your mortgageis very, very personal.
It is not because someone has a,this mortgage went through this
experience that you're going togo through the same thing.
Mortgage rules or not cookiecutters.
(12:24):
We have guidelines that we haveto go by.
But a good loan officer like me,we know how to.
Navigate through the guidelinesand get you home.
It's crucial to consult amortgage loan, professional for
personalized advice.
Because, like I said, Mortgageis very, very personal.
(12:46):
It is not your mother'smortgage.
It is not your cousin who justbought a house.
It's your mortgage.
It's your circumstances.
Because no, you don't need to beworking two years to buy a
house.
The minimum is six months.
We'll go over those things.
When I talk about.
Income.
When I delve deeper into whatincome and what type of income
(13:10):
and how we calculate the income.
So, yeah, so this is today's.
So this is what we got, we, wetalked about.
So the key elements of a preapproval is credit.
know, your credit.
It's income.
So save those pay stubs.
I know that, you know,technology, nobody really would
(13:30):
look at their pay stubs anymore.
They know they get paid.
It's good to look at your paystub.
Because, we see a lot of thingsin a pay stub.
So save your W2's for the pasttwo years if you are
self-employed or if you have ahouse that you're renting, if
you have.
Other income that goes into yourtax returns, save all pages of
(13:54):
your tax returns.
Save your business tax returns.
If you're on social security, wewant to see your award letter.
If you there is child support,save those child support papers
from the court we don't want it.
Verbally, we need paperwork saveall that.
So, um, we look at downpaymentsaving, Debt to income ratio.
(14:19):
We analyze the data and we tellyou what your debt to income
ratio.
We always do.
Is, does it fit if it doesn'tfit?
Always to make it fit.
We'll tell you.
And also choose the rightmortgage type.
Because not every, some mortgagerequired the we present.
You can get all conventionalalone.
(14:40):
At 3%.
It's possible.
We will tell you what'savailable based on what we see
when we do the analysis.
But it's good to learn.
It's good for you to know.
So you can know, is, is themortgage loan officer giving me
the right information.
It's also good to shop around.
I want to teach you guys how toget in a position to get a
(15:06):
mortgage and to know whensomebody is giving you the right
information.
And I want to encourage you toalso go look up these things for
yourself keep your credit.
If you want to get the bestrate.
the best rate somebody can havewith the 740 credit score can be
one thing one day and tomorrowis a different thing.
(15:29):
Same thing for somebody who hasa 580 credit.
I hope that I was clear, but ifyou have any questions, feel
free to call me.
My number is available.
I find don't answer.
I do leave a message.
And my email address as well.
You can send me a message andI'll do my best to return it in
(15:51):
a timely manner.
But I will return it.
If I do get the message.
So, um, so thank you for tuningin today for dollars and
dwelling, and we hope thisepisode brings you one step
closer to unlocking the door toyour dream home.
And join us next time for moreinsight into the world of
finance and home ownership.
(16:12):
Until then this is Regine yourhost.
Signing off.
See you next time on dollars indwellings.
Have a blessed day.
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