Documents You Need to Have Ready to Get a Home Mortgage

Gone are the days of you just telling your mortgage broker or loan officer what you make and them taking you at your word.  Now, they have returned to the old standard.  Loans are available but have “reverted to the mean”.  It is back to classic lending standards of having a down payment, proving that you have a stable long term income, and showing that you have a good Fico credit score.  My wife and I recently applied and were approved for a home loan through a large national bank.  While this is a general list, I’ve added specifics about what we needed for our loan in RED TEXT.

Below is a list of the items you will most likely need to show your lender:

1. W-2 forms – or business tax return forms if you’re self-employed – for the last two or three years for every person signing the loan.
2. Copies of at least one pay stub for each person signing the loan.
3. Account numbers of all your credit cards and the amounts for any outstanding balances.  Our mortgage banker got this information from our credit reports.
4. Copies of two to four months of bank or credit union statements for both checking and savings accounts.
5. Lender, loan number, and amount owed on other installment loans, such as student loans and car loans.  Our mortgage banker got this information from our credit reports.
6. Addresses where you’ve lived for the last five to seven years, with names of landlords if appropriate.  We had to provide our last three addresses.
7. Copies of brokerage account statements for two to four months, as well as a list of any other major assets of value, such as a boat, RV, or stocks or bonds not held in a brokerage account. 
8. Copies of your most recent 401-k or other retirement account statement.  Since we did not use the balances of our 401-k and IRAs as collateral, income, or listed is as an asset to secure the loan, our mortgage banker did not ask for these statements from us.
9. Documentation to verify additional income, such as child support or a pension.
10. Copies of personal tax forms for the last two to three years.