Adventures in Househunting-The Loan

I must tell you, the loan has been the most stressful part of my homebuying experience. It started off great–I was pre-qualified with Bank of America and working with a nice contact there. But, once I finalized my contract, I started shopping around to get the best interest rate, and that became very stressful.

Our New Home!

I contacted 3 lenders. Bank of America, BB&T and a broker that my agent recommended. Immediately when they hear I work for Morris & Raper, they want my business. I of course love that they want to work with me to get me the best rate, but, I must admit, that having them fight so hard for my business made me uncomfortable.

Bank of American and BB&T both went back and forth beating each other. In the end, I went with BB&T. I felt that my contact there was more responsive, and I don’t like to have to wait 48 hours for answers. Also, I locked in my FHA loan at a 4.875% fixed rate for 30 years!  From the highest rate I was quoted being 5.25%, this saves me a ton of money over the life of the loan.

Since we’ve locked in, we’ve been working on getting all the paperwork together for our lender. Remember that you have to show documentation of where the funds for your down payment came from. That means pulling bank statements and copies of any checks that are not payroll issued that you deposited in the last month or so leading up to your closing. Every loan is different, so the list of items required varies. Just know that there will be a lot to do to get ready for your closing. We are 8 days away from ours, and still working to get everything to the closing attorney. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly until then!