Be Prepared The Top Pieces of Info You Will Need Before You Meet the Bank

When you're looking to get a loan from a bank, particularly a mortgage loan, ignorance certainly is not bliss. You need to be as prepared as possible before even stepping foot into the loan officer's office since this will alleviate any rude surprises on your credit report or with other information.

It's not difficult to get a copy of your credit report, and it is best to do this well in advance of applying for a loan. Errors on credit reports are not uncommon, and in many cases it will take some time to get the erroneous information deleted from the credit report. This is why you will want to take care of these errors before allowing a bank or other lender to take a look at your credit report. Sometimes there are items on your credit report which are not errors, but which will need some explanation. It is wise to be aware of these items and have a valid explanation ready for when the bank asks about them. For example, if there are delinquencies on the credit report, which are a result from a major illness, you will want to inform the lender of the situation. They will likely look upon this information much more kindly than they would if the delinquencies were merely a result of poor financial planning.

When applying for a mortgage loan you will encounter many more questions than you normally would on something like an auto loan or personal loan application. Lenders need to know more because they are lending significantly higher amounts of money. They are less likely to take a risk when the loan amount is higher. For this reason, you will want to have a tidy list of the addresses you have lived at for the last ten years and a detailed list of your employment for the last two to five years. It is so much harder to remember specific dates, addresses, salaries, and other sorts of information when filling out a loan application, so having an accurate list in your hand will make everything so much easier.

Some lenders also look at your assets in addition to your credit history. They want to make sure that you don't already owe more than you are worth. For this reason, it is a good idea to contact every bank and credit union where you hold deposit accounts and find out your balances. You should also contact companies with which you hold mutual funds or other investments, and also retirement accounts. Assets, which are not in deposit accounts, such as art or precious metals, do not generally count as assets when applying for a loan although this is at the discretion of the lender. Some will accept these sorts of items as assets when accompanied by an appraisal.

In many cases, potential borrowers will already have a property in mind when applying for a loan. This is a great idea because it speeds up the loan process considerably since the lender isn't waiting for the borrower to pick out a home. In these cases it is best for the borrower to get as much information about the property as possible. Things like legal address, market value, and year built are all questions, which need to be answered eventually on the application, and the sooner the better. Much of this information can be found on the MLS listing or through the real estate agent. Some sellers even have inspections done prior to putting the home on the market and then offer copies of the inspections to potential buyers. The inspection should have all the legal information the lender needs to successfully process the application.

It is much better to come to a meeting with a loan officer armed with too much information than it is to arrive with not enough information. If you think a certain document might be needed for the application but you're not sure, bring it. It is better to be safe than sorry, and loan officers will certainly appreciate the time and effort you took to be prepared. You will be pleased as well to have the application process go a lot smoother than it would have otherwise.