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I'll try to be as short as possible....
I went to a bank to get pre-approved.... they said FHA only, I said ok.
They asked me to fill out a Loan application (is this normal) ?
It has a summary of transaction fees including closing cost (no details included). Why are they asking me to do this at the pre-approval stage ?
Do I get a good faith estimate at this stage of the process ? OR if I sign this document now, will they will copy all fees that I agreed now blindly to the good faith later on and tell me... "hey.... you agreed to this before".
I haven't even decided on the house yet, but it feels like I'm forced to jump the gun.... please give me your opinions on the situation....
Yes, you have to fill out the same Loan Application for a pre-approval as you would if you were applying for a mortgage for a specific house. You're just doing it in advance.
That generic Good Faith Estimate is just because legally they have to give you something. You won't get the "real" good faith estimate until you find a house, go to contract, and the bank has appraised and given it their okay. In fact you might not get the actual GFE until your closing date is actually set. Once the contracts are signed, though, you can get a pretty good approximation of the GFE from various sources:
* You'll know from your attorney what his/her fee will be for the closing.
* You can ask your attorney what the total cost for the title insurance and associated title compay costs at closing will be
* You'll know approximately how much you'll have to reimburse the sellers for already-paid property taxes (your attorney can find out from theirs)
* You'll know from the bank if you'll be paying any points at closing and how many, once you get the pre-approval
* You'll have a rough idea of how much you'll have to pay the bank's attorney from the info you just got
* Figure on the usual $75 or $100 tip for the title company rep at closing
Those are the major things but there will be other smaller items such as reimbursing the seller for any heating oil that's in the tank at the time of closing, etc etc. Those will vary depending on the house you ultimately end up buying.
if it's a real "pre-approval" and not a "pre-qualification," then most LOs will ask you to sign the application because they will actually pull your credit, etc.
I never *tipped* anyone from the title company at any of my closings.
Didn't even know about that custom. Screw 'em
Oh trust me: If you bought a house on Long Island at any time during the past 20 or so years, you surely DID tip the title company representative! You just didn't realize that was what the check your lawyer instructed you to write out to Mr or Ms Whosis was actually FOR.
It was shown on your closing statement that you later got from your lawyer as being paid to (insert title closer's name here) for "sitting fee", "title closer fee", "attendance fee" or some such euphemism. It was and is never shown as what it really is, which is "gratuity" or "tip".
If you still happen to have the closing statement from the last house you bought (which hopefully you did keep, for tax purposes when you eventually sell the house, because those closing costs will increase your cost basis when computing your ultimate capital gain), take a look and I'll bet you will find it there.
Your check for whatever the amount was (used to be $25 back in the day, then $50, then $75, now I'm hearing it's usually $100), would have been made out to the title rep personally.
Thanks for your responses guys. I did go and meet the loan officer.... things went smooth until..... he said that his company charges $350 for a pre-approval letter.... amazing. He did give me an informal letter free of charge, but he said if I needed the formal one I have to pay $350 which will go towards closing if we do close with them.
Thanks for your responses guys. I did go and meet the loan officer.... things went smooth until..... he said that his company charges $350 for a pre-approval letter.... amazing. He did give me an informal letter free of charge, but he said if I needed the formal one I have to pay $350 which will go towards closing if we do close with them.
Thanks for your responses guys. I did go and meet the loan officer.... things went smooth until..... he said that his company charges $350 for a pre-approval letter.... amazing. He did give me an informal letter free of charge, but he said if I needed the formal one I have to pay $350 which will go towards closing if we do close with them.
Sounds to me like they're trying to make sure you don't "shop around". Never heard of anyone else charging for a pre-approval letter
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