You are pre-approved! What are the next steps?

Congratulations! You are pre-approved.

Congratulations! You are formally pre-approved. A pre-approval means that our team has reviewed your mortgage pre-approval application details including including your income, credit scores, debts, savings, and your goals around home ownership.

We want you to feel prepared for all of the next steps. This simple outline explains what is next and what to expect as you embark on your home buying journey!

Our team has provided a mortgage pre-approval so you know the maximum purchase price, a range of the possible down payment amounts, and the approximate monthly mortgage payment. Don’t forget to factor in property taxes and utility costs in your personal budget. Mortgage pre-approvals are based on the exact details provided, if there are any changes to employment, your debts (you plan to purchase a new car) or your down payment amount please let us know. It is best to refrain from any major changes until after you have the keys to your new home! But if something must change, please let us know and we can update your mortgage pre-approval as needed.

Another benefit to pre-approval is that, when it comes time to purchase, pre-approval lets the seller know that securing financing should not be an issue. This is extremely beneficial in competitive markets where lots of offers may be coming in.

Teamwork is important. Let your realtor know you are pre-approved.

In today’s competitive real estate market, a skilled, professional and knowledgeable realtor is key to a successful home search. Your realtor may have been cced on your mortgage pre-approval email. If they were not, please forward our email on. Your realtor will set up an online search for homes based on many parameters including the area, type of home, listing price, and number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Keep your search fairly broad, if possible, this allows you to view lots of home and compare!  You want to find the one you love! A realtor is an expert in the home buying process. They will guide you through viewing homes you are interested in, writing an offer to purchase, deciding on an offer price and any conditions, choosing the possession date, and setting up a home inspection or condo document review if required.

Once you have found the home that meets your needs, your realtor will help you put in an offer that will be accepted or countered. This may go back and forth until you reach an acceptable price and conditions with the seller. Once you have an accepted offer to purchase, please forward that offer and the MLS listing on to our team or have your realtor do so.

Your offer has been accepted. What’s next?

Once your offer is accepted we will get work on the mortgage approval and will obtain a mortgage commitment from your lender of choice.

So please let us know – forward on the offer to purchase or have your realtor connect with us directly.  We will be providing email updates at multiple stages in the process. Our focus is on guiding our clients through the process with ease.

Our client care manager will provide a list of any remaining documents relating to income and down payment. These type of documents stale date, this means they must be dated within the last 30 days for income documents or the last three months for down payment documents. We aren’t able to collect all of the items we need at the pre-approval stage, so we may collect these items a second time when you have an accepted offer. A required document list will be provided to you via email and you can upload those documents securely.

We will review the offer and MLS listing, prepare the mortgage application, provide you with a list of our top lender and interest rates options and book a phone meeting to review all of the options and make a decision together. During this call we can answer any questions you have. We then submit the mortgage application to your lender. The lender provides a mortgage approval in a document called a mortgage commitment. This document details the total mortgage amount, interest rate, fine print, possession date and any conditions of the mortgage approval. We will review this document together. There are times that lenders require an appraisal as a condition of the mortgage approval. This is fairly standard. We cover the cost of all appraisals and will arrange for the appraiser to access the home.

When all of the conditions of the mortgage commitment have been met we will advise that you are in position to release your financing condition (if there is a condition). We complete the application, have your digitally sign the required documents, the lender prepares the mortgage and land titles documents and forwards the documents to your lawyer. Yes, you do need a real estate lawyer. We have a short list of real estate lawyers we refer to and can provide their contact details. Your realtor may also provide a list of their preferred real estate lawyers. This is not the time to work with a lawyer who is a friend or family member unless they are a real estate expert!

At this point, your mortgage approval is in place, all condition have been met and you are ready to celebrate your home purchase!

Meeting with a real estate lawyer.

Your real estate lawyer plays many roles in the home buying process. In the two weeks prior to your possession date, you will meet with your real estate lawyer. Lawyers act as the “bank” in a sense during this phase, by managing the deposit you made with your offer, your down payment funds, and by moving funds from lenders to other lawyers and then onto home sellers. Lawyers prepare the lender mortgage documents and the provincial land titles documents. Prepare for a meeting that is approximately one hour long and there will be lots of documents to sign. The law office will prepare you for this meeting by providing an outline of the funds required (down payment minus your original deposit), the type of ID you must provide, and the type of documents to sign. We will also provide you with a FYI email before the meeting with the lawyer so that you feel prepared.

Time to move in, your possession or closing date is here.

On your possession date, your lender will advance the mortgage funds to the law office. Your lawyer will move those funds to the law office of the home seller and you will receive the keys to your new home from your realtor. The “keys release” generally occurs in the afternoon on the possession date. Once those keys are hand, you are celebrating and moving and unpacking! Now the fun begins and you are ready to setup your new home!

Our follow-up and support after your move in.

We will continue to provide advice and support even after you move into the new home. We ensure that the payments are set up correctly (on the date your prefer and the schedule you prefer) and that you have online access to your mortgage details via a lender portal. We also continue to answer any questions you have. Our team stays in touch with an annual check-in on your mortgage anniversary and if anything changes or if you plan to sell the home or buy a different home in the future we are here to help!