The home purchasing process can be fun and exciting, and it often invokes a desire to get the details out of the way and move to the fun stuff as quickly as possible. One such detail is the mortgage application – it’s not the fun or exciting part, but glossing over important parts of this process could torpedo your entire plan.

At Mortgage Ogden, we’re here to help with all mortgage loan application issues and get you the best rate possible. Here are a few common mistakes we see on applications, plus how you can look to avoid them.

Failing to Get Pre-Approved

One of the simplest steps many people fail to take is getting pre-approved to determine whether they even qualify for the kind of financing they’re seeking. Pre-approval is more detailed and thorough than pre-qualification – many borrowers confuse these two terms, and assume that pre-qualification is enough. Overlooking these differences forces many people to go back to square one and start over if they aren’t approved for a loan they assumed they would get approval on.

Changing Credit Behavior

Some folks naturally assume that if you pay off your bills on time, it’s okay to use a big chunk of credit. In reality, using too much credit might signal a reliance on borrowing money, which doesn’t look great to lenders. Any shifting of your credit, including opening or closing a credit card, can hurt your credit utilization ratio, and therefore your score and possibly your mortgage application. If this is part of your plan in the near future, don’t make any big changes to credit.

Forgetting the Fine Print

Don’t be hasty about moving on from an application, and always read the fine print and make sure every detail is correct. Also, be sure there is fine print in every situation – never assume a deal is official until it’s been put in writing, and never consider a verbal agreement final.

Lying

There may have been a time in the past when you could embellish little details on income, employment or credit score, but those days are long gone. Any information you put on an application can be verified down to the decimal point, and even a tiny omission can mean mortgage or tax fraud. Never sign an application if it’s incomplete or missing even a single important item.

Interested in learning more about mortgage applications, or any of the other services provided by our mortgage brokers? Speak to the pros at Mortgage Ogden today.