Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: If I already have debt, can I still qualify for a mortgage? The answer is: Yes! It all comes down to your debt-to-income ratio (or DTI for short). To calculate [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: Can I roll my closing costs into my VA Loan? The answer is: It Depends...  For eligible Veterans looking to purchase a home with their VA benefits, you have the [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: Can I count my retirement pension towards qualifying for a mortgage? Yes, your retirement pension can count towards qualifying for a mortgage! Under certain requirements.  Simply being retired doesn't preclude [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: What makes Morgan Financial's Secured Approval stronger than a typical pre-approval? A pre-approval (usually conducted by a loan officer), is where a credit report is reviewed and a loan application [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: When I'm buying a home, who orders the property survey? The responsibility to order and pay for the survey is up to you, the homebuyer. However in many cases, the [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: Do I need to put 20% down to buy a home? The quick answer: Nope! There are many options for putting less than 20% down, for example… A Veteran might [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE.” This week, we answer the question: When it comes to my mortgage, what are cash reserves? Essentially, cash reserves are the money you have leftover in the bank after paying your down-payment and closing costs. Cash [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE”. This week, we answer the question: Do I have to pay closing costs on a VA Loan? Yes.  A veteran has to pay closing costs on a VA loan.  While an eligible veteran can do 100% financing up [...]

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE”. This week, we answer the question: “ What does an underwriter do?"

Hello! This is Joe Harris with Morgan Financial and here is your “Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE”. This week, we answer the question: “Why is it important that the underwriting is done in office?"  Most companies have their underwriting done in a centralized facility, far away from where the loan is actually being done.  Having in-office underwriters makes the loan process run much more smooth and cuts down the time for loan approval. Say one of our underwriters has a question about an application, they can easily walk down the hallway to speak with the Loan officer about this and solve any problems or questions right then and there.  Or conversely, if a loan officer has a question on a borrower, the can walk down to the underwriter ask how they would handle the situation. Having in-office underwriting is a huge reason why our current clear to close time is 9.88 days on all VA and conforming loan Thank you for tuning into this Joe Knows Mortgages MINUTE If you have any home loan related questions, we want to hear from you! SO please comment down below! Also, please feel free to like and share this information with your family and friends. See you again next Monday!