You’ve been pre-approved for your home loan, and your offer on a new home has been accepted – avoid doing these top 5 things that may sabatoge or delay your closing date. Speak with your loan officer if you forsee any of these situations arising.
1. Don’t open any new lines of credit or alter your existing ones. For instance, don’t go furniture shopping, buy a new vehicle, take out cash advances, consolidate credit, or apply for any new credit cards. Don’t co-sign on any additional debt. Lenders review your debt to income ratio when pre-approving you; this could throw off the ratio.
2. Don’t change jobs. Lenders need consistent employment status for a specified number of months in order to approve your loan. This can put your loan on hold until the lender can obtain and verify paystubs for your new employment.
3. Avoid late payments on bills. Don’t skip or miss any bill payments, and speak with your loan officer prior to paying bills in collection with collection agencies.
4. Avoid unnecessary changes to your bank accounts. Don’t allow your accounts to go into negative balance or transfer large amounts of money between your accounts.
5. Don’t accept gift funds without speaking to your loan officer. The intent may be positive but guidelines are strict. Check with your loan officer before allowing anyone else to pay for your down payment, appraisal, inspection, etc…They’ll be able to advise if and how these gifts may be applied.
