Confess

I don’t know why my brain went off in this direction, but maybe I watch the same old movies too often. Like many other people I do like the story and passion of William Wallace in the movie “Brave Heart”. In short, near the end when in the court the Magistrate says to Wallace “We find you guilty of treason against your King, ……………. Confess and you will be shown mercy for a quick death if not you will have to be cleansed of your sins.”

Well if the origin of mortgage is death, are we looking at the underwriters as magistrates from the movie? Confess all your debts, bankruptcies, foreclosures, loan modifications and short sales. Do not hide all of those other properties you own, but don’t want to tell us about. So, of course I think about the consumers applying for a mortgage loan, yeah, I know right, where has my brain gone on this one. But why does it seem like consumers coming into our office, are like a repeat of a movie we just watched last week?

Yes, we are going to find out all of this, but it will be the hard way and you will be hit with a bunch of more torturous conditions. Of course, not like William Wallace had to bare but the fact is it can make the process more frustrating then it needs to be. Disclosing all known facts upfront can make the loan process much easier. Almost as though the underwriter has granted mercy on your loan file, only hitting you with few conditions which you have to meet. This can save you many trips to your personal filing cabinet scrambling to find more paperwork.

Just confess it all upfront

Being upfront and honest can save you a lot of frustration and us a lot of time and paperwork. If the information you have is not all good news tell us. We may be able to help you correct it before applying for the loan. Most of these issues are not found during the prequalification stage of the loan process. Entering into a purchase and sales agreement only to find out after spending hundreds of dollars on inspections, appraisals and surveys that we cannot do the loan can be very devastating and disappointing to all involved.

Ask questions, be informed, get all your facts and we will see you at a happy closing table.