When you’ve found the home of your dreams, you want to make an offer and finalize the homebuying process as quickly as possible.

But what goes on behind the scenes to get you from offer accepted to keys in hand?

Mortgage underwriting is what happens after you’ve submitted your application for a mortgage loan. During this process, an analyst takes a deep dive into your financial background to make sure you’re eligible for the loan amount that you need.

At INB, we move quickly so you can move quickly. We follow streamlined, efficient steps to get you into your new home faster.

And a significant part of this is done by our mortgage underwriters.

Here’s what you can expect from INB’s mortgage underwriting team:

1. It starts with you and your application. We make it easy for you to apply for a mortgage online at INB. You’ll also need to provide official documents like:
   • ID and social security number
   • W-2s or other sources of income from the past two years
   • Proof of pay from the last 30 days
   • Federal tax returns
   • Recent bank statements
2. Your application will be reviewed. A mortgage underwriter will look at all of your documents and information, considering a variety of factors like current income, credit history, other debts and more. This includes pulling your credit report to look for things like late payments.
3. An appraisal will be scheduled. During an appraisal, we make sure the property’s value lines up with the price you’re paying for it.
4. We’ll also look at title insurance, so we can make sure there are no liens, unpaid taxes, claims or other issues with the property. We encourage you to work closely with your real estate broker or seller to get the title work and deed to transfer the title in a timely manner.
5. The mortgage underwriter will then make a final decision to approve or deny your application.

How long does it take?

Every home purchase is vastly different, so the length of time varies. The underwriting process could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

Working with a community bank like INB, however, is typically much faster than a larger institution because decisions are made by a local team. We’ve even been able to get loans closed in 18 days from start to finish when new customers have been left hanging by other financial institutions!

What can you do to speed things up?

Our mortgage team are experts at this process, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help the process move along faster!

• Make sure all documents are ready to go. The sooner our mortgage team has the documents we need, the smoother the process will be. If we’re waiting to verify your employment and income, that will prolong getting into your new home.
• Don’t take on more debt. If you apply for a new credit card or make another major purchase with a loan will impact your mortgage loan. Avoid taking on new debt while your mortgage is processing.
• Respond quickly to questions from your lender. Sometimes we need more information to complete the underwriting process, so prompt responses definitely keep the balling rolling.

Ready to start shopping for a new home? Give me a call first so you can get prequalified before you make an offer on your dream home. Then INB’s mortgage underwriting team will help you become a new homeowner!