The first call
Twenty minutes. How you are paid, what you have saved, when you want to move and the payment you want to live with. No documents, no credit pull, no application.
The process
Six steps, and you always know which one you are in
Most of the stress in a mortgage comes from not knowing what happens next. Here is the whole sequence, including the parts that are your job and the parts that are mine.
From first call to keys
The same order every time. Steps one to four usually take a week, and step five lasts as long as your house hunt does.
Documents, once
Josh sends one secure list and tells you exactly which statement pages matter. Most clients finish it in an evening. Self employed files send deposits instead of returns.
Structure and lender selection
This is the hour that decides your number. Equity income, bonus history, reserves and the down payment tier all get modelled before the file goes anywhere.
Underwritten approval
A real underwriter reviews the file and approves it subject to a property. You get a letter I sign personally, with my direct line on it for the listing agent.
Offer support
The letter is updated for each property. When your offer goes in, I call the listing agent the same day, usually inside the hour, and answer for the file myself.
Appraisal, conditions, keys
Appraisal ordered within a day of acceptance. Conditions cleared as they arrive. Closing figures in your inbox two days before signing, then a notary at your kitchen table.
Call me first
One text before you do any of these saves a week of explanation letters.
Eight things not to do while your loan is open
None of these are dramatic on their own. All of them have delayed someone's closing.
- Do not open a new credit card or finance furniture
- Do not change jobs without telling me first
- Do not move large sums between accounts
- Do not deposit cash you cannot document
- Do not pay off a collection without asking
- Do not co sign anything for anyone
- Do not close an old credit card
- Do not skip a payment on anything, ever
If something on this list already happened, tell me. Almost everything is fixable when it is known early.
Ask me a questionProcess questions
Timing, documents and what actually holds files up.
Still stuck on something
Call (408) 555-0124 or book a 20 minute slot. No documents needed for the first conversation.
Earlier than most people think. Half of my first calls happen eight to fourteen months before an offer. We set a target price, a savings plan and a credit plan, then you shop when you are ready instead of when a listing appears.
A pre qualification is a conversation. A pre approval means I have pulled credit, reviewed income and assets, and had an underwriter approve the file. In Santa Clara County the second one is what makes an offer competitive.
Two recent pay stubs, two years of W-2s or tax returns, two months of bank and brokerage statements, and your equity portal export if you receive stock. Self employed files start with twelve or twenty four months of bank statements instead.
Plan on roughly 1.5% to 2% of the purchase price in lender, title, escrow and recording fees, plus prepaid property taxes and insurance. On a refinance the range is smaller, and an appraisal waiver often saves about a thousand dollars.
Twenty one days is normal on a clean file, and I have closed in fifteen when an appraisal was waived. Government loans and renovation loans run longer, usually 30 to 45 days.
Once you are in contract, in most cases. I watch the market daily and will tell you when waiting has a real chance of paying off. Several of my lenders allow one float down if pricing improves before you sign.
Start at step one
A twenty minute call, no documents needed, and a plan you can follow from there.
Sample figures across this site are illustrations, not quotes. Equal Housing Opportunity.