If you are considering buying a home in Old Torrance you’ll likely be financing the purchase.  There are a number of things a buyer needs to do to get a mortgage. The earlier these are done in the process the less stressful things get while in escrow or scrambling to make an offer.  Knowing about your financing abilities or how much you can afford, eliminates many challenges and stresses that may come up in the home buyer process in Torrance and the loan process for any Southern California home.    Here are 5 essential steps to successfully navigating the loan and financing process:

1. Get pre-approved:  It’s currently a sellers market and in a highly competitive housing market, it’s critical to be pre-approved or at least pre-qualified to give yourself the best chance of an offer being considered.  Most realtors and sellers won’t even consider an offer with financing if a preapproval letter isn’t included.
2. Choose a realtor that can help avoid appraisal problems. A good realtor will meet the appraiser with the most current information in hand.  As a local real estate expert often knows more than the appraiser, the realtor may have insight and information not readily available to the appraiser.  Doing a bit of research to find out what the homes are in escrow actually sold for and the reasons why one home sold higher or lower can go a long way in making the appraisal go according to plan
3. Know your credit score:    It’s not only important to have good credit and know your credit score, but equally important that your credit score stays the same throughout the escrow process.  No big purchases, no opening numerous new credit lines and no late or missed payments.
4. Review the closing disclosure forms or CD.  Due to regulations, lenders must provide you with a closing disclosure at least 3 days before closing in order to see fees, details, etc.
5. Make it through underwriting:  Before you get loan clearance and final approval, your mortgage has to go through the underwriting process.  Be ready and supply the underwriters with all requested documents quickly to avoid the stress of needing to ask the seller for extra time.  Most loan contingency periods are 21 days or shorter so time is of the essence in the loan process.