I’m back from vacation!

Late Thursday night, I returned home from a three week vacation in Italy visiting my son and daughter-in-law, who are currently living in Europe. This is the longest vacation away from my wonderful hubby and work that I have ever done. My fantastic sister-in-law Marilyn joined me on this adventure to celebrate her retirement from Mortgage Master Service Corporation. [Read more…]

I’m BACK from my Pointless vacation in the San Juan Islands and British Columbia

I’m back home in Seattle from a two week (okay, just over 2 week) vacation on our sailboat, Pointless. We cruised the San Juans, up to Princess Louisa Islet and returned home via the Canadian Gulf Islands. The sailboat is newer to us – we’ve had it almost a year. She’s a Valiant 40 that was built in 1985. We purchased her from the original owners who sailed her around the world while living aboard. My husband has spent the last year lovingly sprucing her up and this vacation was the longest voyage she (or I) have been on to date!

Pointless Jones Island Aug 2014 San Juans

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Going on Vacation during the Mortgage Process

Rocko the cat enjoying a trip sailing in the San Juans‘Tis the season for going on a vacation.  But what if you are buying a home or in the middle of refinancing your mortgage? Ideally, if you’re buying or refinancing a home, you won’t have any travel plans until after the transaction has closed…however, we know things aren’t always “ideal”… and vacation or business travel plans are sometimes a must.

Here are some pointers I hope you find useful should you find that you’re traveling while in the mortgage process.

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How to Prepare for the Final Phase of the Mortgage Process: Underwriting

You’ve completed a loan application and have provided your mortgage originator with your income and asset documents. You’re told your loan is being submitted to “underwriting”. During the stage, the information you’ve provided is being scrutinized by a person (the underwriter) to make sure that it meets your specific program guidelines and the investor/lender guidelines.

Hopefully your mortgage originator has done a solid job with your application by addressing possible questions the underwriter may have and gathering supporting documentation. Even if your mortgage originator and you have prepared the perfect loan ap for the underwriter, additional items are often called for after the underwriters review. These additional items are referred to as “conditions” to the loan approval. [Read more…]