What is the house buying process?

Buying a house is a big step. Tri Boro FCU is here to help. Here is a typical time line of the process:

• Get a pre-approval
• Shop alone or with a real estate agent, find the home of your dreams
• Make an offer
• When the offer is accepted and given to the lender, we get to work for you
• We send you a packet with your disclosures, send back the signed copies
• When we receive your signed disclosures, we will then order your appraisal and other items we will need to make a decision
• When everything is in and we approve the loan, we will then order the title search
• When the title search is back, we can then plan to close the loan
• We will send you a final disclosure prior to closing for you to review
• Prior to closing you will need to secure a homeowner’s policy that is paid up for a year
• Go to the closing and get the keys to your new home
• Move in! Congratulations!

How much money do I need?

That depends on how much house you want to buy and how much you can afford. When buying a house, you will need:

1. Down payment – this is 20% or as low as 5%, for those that quality for First Time Home Buyers as low as 3% of the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is lower
2. Pre-paids – these are funds for your escrow account, we will need this funded so when your taxes and homeowner insurance is due there is enough to pay for them
3. Closing costs – these are the costs involved in processing your loan request, for example, the appraisal, title search, title insurance, etc.

What documents will I need?

Buy a house:

• All Checking/Savings, Retirement, and Depository & Stock/Bond Account Statements for the most recent 3 months: evidencing sufficient funds to close
• Pay stubs for all borrowers, most recent 2 to 4 consecutive pays sufficient to document 1 full month of earnings
• W-2s for all borrowers for the most recent 2 tax years
• Two years tax returns if self-employed
• Award Letters (most recent) for all pension/retirement/social security income
• Sales agreement signed from by all parties

Refinance or Home Equity Loan:

• Pay stubs for all borrowers, most recent 2 to 4 consecutive pays sufficient to document 1 full month of earnings
• W-2s for all borrowers for the most recent 2 tax years
• Two years tax returns if self-employed
• Award Letters (most recent) for all pension/retirement/social security income
• Statement from 1st mortgage
• Copy of your deed
• Proof of homeowner’s insurance
• If you are consolidating debts, we need statements of debts to be paid off