David Neal's Mortgage Blog

If there is one singe thing in the mortgage business that causes homebuyers the most distress and even sheer panic....it is a delayed closing date! Now,even though my team and I do everything we can to prevent this, on rare occasions it can't be prevented.

The process to get your mortgage is well defined and certain things have to happen at certain times to insure we are hitting the target closing date. One of those is getting the required documents from you the customer to provide to the underwriter as proof of information disclosed on the application. It's kind of like in a court room, where it only matters what you can prove. If we can't prove it them we can't count it. But, sometimes the proof that we provide actually raises more questions and then we have to provide documentation to prove and satisfy those questions. If that came up late in the process, I'm sure you can probably guess...now we have to scurry around trying to answer all the new questions and provide proof. Often times that can't be done in enough time to still close on our date, because it's very hard to hurry the last couple of days in the mortgage process.

If I can stress one thing, it would be try your best to gather all the necessary documents your mortgage company asks for as quickly as possible. Although the key phrase is "as quickly as possible", sometimes there isn't any way to get the documents sooner. The are certain documents or situations that make it impossible to get documentation quickly. In these situations, just be aware that those can delay your closing.

Another big reason that delays can happen is the information we were given it necessarily accurate or our customer left out a key piece of info, that could potentially have a huge impact on the loan. So please don't take the "I hope they don't find out about that" approach. If I know where the problems are upfront then I can navigate through the mine field, so to speak. But, if I don't know where the mines are....well you guess it, if we step on one we might be dead....or delayed while we figure out if there is a solution.

Keep these few in mind while applying for your mortgage and your chances of a delay in your closing go way down. One last thing...my rule of thumb is we don't move up a closing unless the loan is clear to close by an underwriter. No matter how much more convenient it may seem to be for you, moving up the date and then have it delayed only causes more problems than it solves. The only way to make sure that doesn't happen is to be clear to close, which means the loan is final approved...before we move it up.

Have a Happy Closing!

Interest rates have been all over the place in the last few weeks. Everything from Wall Street, the news and the Federal Reserve is having fickled effects on the bond market, from which interest rates are derived.

I am seeing days with 4 or 5 price changes in the same day, and let me tell ya...that ain't normal. If the market changes usually we can see 1 or 2 price changes in the rates. With as volatile as the market is right now, it is more important than ever to stick with the tried and true strategies when locking rates.

You could worry yourself to death over which rates are going where and can I get a better one.....or, make sure you have a professional that is plugged in to up to the minute updates, that you feel you can trust and listen to them. Not blindly mind you, but sensibly! My personal belief is that it's better to have a "Lock Conversation" with your mortgage advisor when you make application for a loan and determine some guidelines on which to make a decision.

In the stock market, the successful investors are the ones that stick to the rules that they have set for themselves regardless of what the market is doing. Like, buying or selling once certain levels are reached, which takes the hearsay and emotion out of the decision. It reminds me of the old adage...stick to the plan!

Everybody wants a lower rate, including me, but the thing people always seem to forget, is that rates could get a whole lot worse in a short amount of time....not just better. So, usually it's a better strategy to lock based on sound advice and know that you're getting a great rate. Instead of making yourself sick with "interest rate fever", which over the years, I can't even tell you how many people I've seen get left behind because of it.