An Interview with the VP of Mortgage Lending
Dave: Hi everybody, Dave Sullivan here part of the marketing team at People Driven Credit Union, and I’m pleased to introduce our new VP of mortgage lending, Lisa Schwark.
Dave: Lisa, thanks for being here. We appreciate you joining the team. We’re excited to have you. So many times, when people think about getting a mortgage, they maybe make a few mistakes. Perhaps they don’t do the exact right thing when they believe they are doing the right thing. So I wanted you to share three tips that people should take under advisement when thinking about getting a mortgage.
Don’t Change Jobs
Lisa: The first thing, in my opinion, the most important thing is don’t change jobs. We often find that people either change jobs right before applying, or they’re in the middle of the mortgage loan process. Then, all of a sudden, we go to verify employment. We find out that they no longer work there. That is something that you want to avoid. Stable income in the same line of work is a significant aspect that we look for when approving a mortgage loan. If at all possible, try to avoid changing jobs during the loan process. That would be your best option.
Dave: Lisa, how long do people need to be at their job before thinking about applying for a mortgage?
Lisa: Each investor is different, but six months to a year at least and in the same line of work.
Dave: Somebody comes out of college they’ve been working for six months they could apply for a mortgage at that time?
Lisa: Yes, they could.
Dave: Okay, you don’t have to wait until you get two years in at your job before you can apply for a mortgage?
Lisa: No, because with a student, we would ask for college transcripts to show us that they were, in fact, in school.
Dave: Okay, not their grades necessarily.
Lisa: No.
Dave: What other tip would you recommend employment’s key, the ability to repay the loan, but what else would be necessary?
Don’t Charge Up Your Credit Cards
Lisa: Another essential thing that you should not do is charge up your credit cards. We see that a lot as well, especially for borderline people with a high debt to income ratio. You do not want to do until after you close your loan because that could be a deal-breaker.
Dave: Right, you want to keep your utilization low on the credit cards as low as possible. The utilization ratio is how much of that credit the member is issuing compared to the high praise. So they would want to keep their utilization low because that can negatively impact their credit score.
Lisa: Yes, that’s correct.
Dave: What third and final tip would you offer to people thinking about getting a mortgage?
Don’t Make Large Deposits or Withdrawals
Lisa: The third thing would be not to make any large deposits or any significant withdrawals bank statements are part of the documentation that we collect. If an underwriter looks at this, it will send up a bunch of red flags. So hence, if you make significant deposits or large withdrawals, make sure that you can show the paper trail to document.
Dave: You want to make sure to document the paper trail. It’s imperative, and you don’t want to make cash deposits without documentation.
Lisa: Not.
Dave: Yeah, if you’re saving up for the down payment, you don’t want to suddenly make a significant cash deposit without something like I sold my boat or whatever.
Lisa: Correct
Dave: You know, many people don’t think about applying for a mortgage at this time of the year, but it really can be a great time to apply because things are a little bit slow for the mortgage industry overall, wouldn’t you say.
Lisa: Yes, this is this a perfect time to apply, you know, right before Christmas if you need some money for the holidays.
Dave: It is a perfect time, yeah, or at least you get the process rolling so that you can close right after the new year, so it’s a great time to apply, and if you want to apply for a mortgage with us, obviously you can go to our website it’s the best way to start online, and then we will reach out to you correct.
Lisa: Yes, if there’s anything that we need.
Dave: Peopledrivencu.org. Lisa, thanks so much for being here.
Lisa: Thank you.
