Ask me anything: I want to get pre-approved by a mortgage lender. What documents will my lender need from me?

If you wish to buy a home and need a loan, a mortgage lender's preapproval is pretty essential.  You'll need that preapproval in writing before you make a purchase offer.  Most lenders need the following:

- 2 most recent pay stubs

- Last 2 years' w-2s and/or 1099's

- Last 2 years' federal tax return with all pages and corporate returns

- 2 most recent consecutive months' bank statements for all asset bank accounts

- For borrowers with corporations, a "profit and loss" statement for the business

This seems like a lot, I know. But that's because a) you are borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and b) you probably have this paperwork scattered all over your house.  So, if you're thinking of buying in the near future, now -- especially since it's tax time anyway -- is a good time to assemble your paperwork.

The moral of the story is...

If you are a property buyer or seller, the moral of the story is that if you're NOT being asked to review and acknowledge or sign a bajillion things during escrow, then you're not being aware of everything that's going on between you and the other party.  And it's your Realtor's fault.

And here's the story.  My buyer has been in a protracted escrow (reasons I'll blog about later) with a seller and a listing agent who shall remain nameless. The listing agent told us that the seller has refused to make any repairs to the property.  We've just learned that the seller won't do anything because the seller was never made aware by his agent that we wanted anything done, and was never furnished with our communications on the subject.

During an escrow, there are many decisions to be made and corresponding documents to be signed.  These include escrow paperwork, disclosures, and financing paperwork.  If you're not reviewing stuff every several days or so, then your Realtor is making decisions for you.  And that's illegal as it violates the Civil Code regarding agency.