Skip to main content

How to Keep Your Mortgage Approval Approved


by Michael H. Wasserman, Attorney at Law

A must read from Broderick Perkins over at Realty Times for all home buyers who want to use mortgage financing. A shocking number of folks manage to sink their own ships by making one of these four mistakes along the way.


  1. Do Not make random, large, undocumented cash deposits, transfers, or withdrawels - Your lender is going to see these on your bank statements and unless you can explain / prove where the money came from / is going, you are at risk
  2. Avoid Big Purchases - Resist the temptation to buy a new car or furnishings for your new home until after the closing. It will show up on your credit report, lower your score, and scare the bejeezus out of your lender.
  3. Pay your Bills - Harken back on the advertising slogan - Just do it. Even if you want or need to dispute the charges with your creditor. Timing is everything and now is not the time to slip up. Credit scores man. They mark down for late payments. 
  4. Do Not open a new credit line or account (and as Perkins notes, even the one with that sweet o% interest teaser). You will get plenty of credit offers once you close. Trust me.
  5. Keep your day job, (don't give it away). OK, you cannot always control for this one, but do not take chances by switching employers or switching industries before the closing. Your lender's underwriter has evaluated your loan based on your current job and earnings. Not on what you hope to make, or what you want to do, going forward 

Other mistakes buyers make here? Please do share.

Realty Times - How to Keep Your Mortgage Approval Approved

Popular posts from this blog

FHA Loans and Condo Sales - Is Relief on the Way?

By all outward appearances, state government in Illinois has ground to a complete halt, with all eyes focused on the Governor's "problem" and all the related fal - der -rah. Its hardly business as usual in Springfield, but not everything has ground to a halt. Several new bills have been introduced this week. That is not to say that they will be of benefit to we the people. Nonetheless, the cogs and gears are turning, and we are hoping for the best. One such proposal comes from Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago's west side, who is himself a real estate broker and entrepreneur . He is the author of House Bill 155 , introduced & referred to the Rules Committee Wednesday. It seeks to address one of the most common problems I am seeing in condominium resale transactions these days; the tension between many Declarations of Condominium and FHA loan guidelines. Many Condo Declarations provide Associations with a "right of first refusal," which basically allows t
3 comments
Read more

So.... about the blawg

Nov. 2022 Hello Dear Reader. I started blogging on this site 15 years ago.  Crazy right? May or may not Chicago's longest-running blog about real estate law. I think so, but who knows, Whether it is or isn't doesn't, of course, really matter.   Either way, it's been a blast.  But things change. We've pulled up the tent stakes here and are relocated on other platforms. Want to follow along? Join us on the mothership I'm also writing on LinkedIn Thanks for everything.
Post a Comment
Read more

PLM Title Shuttered

Title insurance is a critically important part of any real estate transaction; or at least it should be. The title company guaranties the "quality" of an owners interest in the property - that there aren't any (unknown) liens or defects. No buyer that I work for will purchase a property without it. Title insurance is only as good as the insurer. We want to know that the insurance company, like the Rock of Gibraltar , will always be there. We want to sleep easy at night, knowing that the client is protected. That said, it was a bit distressing to see that PLM Title Company shut its doors, without any forewarning last week. Worse still, this morning's news is that there is a criminal investigation underway - and that we do not yet know why. Old timers like me shudder with memories of the great Intercounty Title debacle five years ago. Here's to hoping that this one is nothing like that one. Set aside the problems involved trying to make a claim against a defun
6 comments
Read more