Quick note: This is the third post in our series on the home mortgage process. If you haven’t yet obtained preapproval and made an offer, check out posts 1 and 2:

Phase 1: Preapproval

Phase 2: Making an Offer

Obtaining your preapproval and making an offer on a house are two huge steps toward home ownership. And great news: At this point in the process your heavy lifting is just about done. 

The next step in your homeownership journey is to convert your pre-approval to a complete mortgage application. 

By the time you’re ready for this step, you’ve already worked with your Mortgage Loan Officer to review your program options and all the details regarding your mortgage loan. You’ve discussed down payment, loan term (years), rate, payment, and what to expect during the rest of the process. Now that the seller has agreed to your terms and your contract is officially ratified (accepted), it’s time to review and finalize that application to make sure everything is still correct and still meets your needs.

In your contract there are terms that must be adhered to. You have a certain amount of time to complete a home inspection (if you’ve chosen to have that service performed), along with several other deadlines:

• A deadline to finalize your mortgage application
• A deadline for the appraisal to be completed
• A deadline for your formal loan commitment to be delivered to the sellers

These deadlines and terms are there to ensure the rest of the process is efficient and timely for everyone involved. Prompt communication is key here: that and a sense of urgency could be the difference between landing your dream home and being outmaneuvered by another buyer.

So what happens now? Let’s go ahead and convert your application!

Converting your Pre-Approval

The minute you are notified by your realtor that your offer has been accepted, call your Mortgage Loan Officer. Remember—the clock is ticking, and now the real work begins for your mortgage lender. To convert your pre-approval, your loan officer will be asking you for additional information (and in some cases a few pieces of updated documentation).

• Property address
• Agreed-upon sales price
• Amount of seller-paid closing costs (if any)
• Closing date
• Financing contingency date (loan commitment)
• Closing attorney contact information
• Realtor information
• Updated paystubs (if necessary)
• Updated asset statements (if necessary)

Your Mortgage Loan Officer will then enter all this information into the system and generate the documents required to submit your application formally for processing and underwriting.

These documents will be sent to you for your signature within three business days of your providing the contract to your loan officer.

Be aware: the documents needed for converting your pre-approval cannot be generated until you’ve submitted an offer on a specific property, and your formal process cannot start until you’ve signed these documents. You don’t want any unnecessary delay here, so be sure to get with your loan officer as soon as possible once your offer is accepted.