Let’s face it: shopping for a home on Cape Cod is fun! Exploring oceanside neighborhoods, touring all the homes for sale, imagining yourself living in your dream home. It’s all good! But the fun quickly turns to stress once you’ve FOUND your dream home and are now moving on to the actual purchase phase.
Suddenly, you’re staring at a fully-executed offer sheet that is riddled with deadlines: a deadline for inspections, a deadline for the signing of the Purchase and Sales Agreement (P&S), and most importantly, a deadline for the mortgage commitment. The latter will require you to produce a seemingly endless trail of paperwork. You can significantly reduce your stress during these critical few weeks by getting as much of your paperwork ready in advance as possible. We call this paperwork your “green file”, and it should contain at least the following:
- Copy of your driver’s license.
- Most recent 2 consecutive months worth of statements from each of your financial accounts, including checking/savings, investments, IRAs, 401(k)s, CDs, etc.
- Proof of down-payment and closing costs. Lenders will want to follow the paper trail of any and all monies you’re using at closing, including the down-payment. It is best to have this money in a single liquid account for at least 2 months prior to your mortgage application. If all of the money cannot be traced in the above-referenced accounts, you need to account for it. If some of it is a gift from a relative, you need to provide proof of where it came from and also proof that it does not need to be paid back (via a Gift Letter).
- 2 years worth of W2s and tax returns.
- 2 months worth of most recent pay stubs.
Having these documents ready in advance will substantially reduce your stress level and make the home buying process far more enjoyable from beginning to end. As a Certified Buyer’s Representative, I can help you with every aspect of the home buying process — and at NO cost to you. Please contact me anytime at (508) 259-8379 or by email at [email protected].