Loan Application

After meeting with Sam and signing the purchase agreement, she handed us a checklist of documents to bring to our Loan Application meeting with Patti. Patti is a young Colombian woman who in my mind could kick any man's ass with some sweet South American feistiness. She was also warm and patient, like only a South American mom could be (a shout out to my own Mama here :)).

The checklist consisted of:
- Pay stubs for the last two months
- W-2s for the last two years
- Bank and retirement account statements for the last two months
- Tax returns for the last two years
- Copies of Driver's License and Social Security cards
- Leasing contact for last two years
- Contact information for employment verification

There were more documents listed, but they didn't apply to us (e.g. if you own property, are retired or self-employed, etc.).

After Patti verified all the documents we brought in, it was her turn to go over everything she had to show us. She started with our credit score, which was great (phew!), disclosure documents, and then proceed to show us the loan application itself, with a very detailed loan structure (interest rate, taxes, escrow accounts, etc.). She went through it all a few times to make sure we understood all the numbers and the rest of the application process ahead of us.

Something Chad and I didn't understand well before this process was the rate lock-in. In our situation, NVR will only lock our interest free of charge for 90 days. So if 90 days before settlement the rate of the day is 4%, for example, we can lock that rate, regardless if at settlement the rate is higher or lower. If settlement is delayed, we will have two options: pay NVR to extend the rate (fee is pro-rated, so you'd pay different amounts if extending for one week versus one month, but it can be quite expensive from the scenarios Patti showed us) or lose the locked rate and get stuck with the worst rate at the time. It's pretty much a gamble since the rates could go either up or down. As of today, we're more than 90 days from settlement, so we will revisit those option a little later in the process. This website gives a better explanation on what rate lock-ins are all about.

Now we wait. We will hear from our loan processor soon about an approval and we should be good to go :)