After you have been pre-approved and have decided on what home to buy, you want to begin the mortgage approval process. This process begins with a first interview where you and your Miami mortgage lender talk about your different possibilities.

In the first meeting, the mortgage lender will help you complete a 1003 mortgage application form. To accelerate the mortgage approval process, you will need to have several papers that are required for the approval of the Miami mortgage:

• A purchase contract for the house (if you already have one)
• Your bank account numbers and the your bank’s address, along with checking and savings account statements for the last 3 months
• Pay stubs, W2 withholding forms, tax returns for two years, or other proof of having a job and income proof
• Credit card bills for the last few billing periods, or canceled checks for rent or utility bill payments, to show payment history and amount of revolving debt
• Data on other regular debt such as car loans, student loans and store credit cards
• Balance sheets and tax returns, if you own your business
• Any gift letters, if you are taking a monetary gift from your parent or relative or other organization to pay for the down payment and closing costs. This letter has to show that the funds are truly a gift and will not have to be paid back.

By taking with you those items when visiting your Miami home mortgage broker, you will help speed up the mortgage application process.

Also, you may have to give an appraisal fee which will cover the obligatory appraisal of the property you want to buy.

Once you attend your first reunion, you ought to have an answer within 48 hours. In most instances, you may “forget” about the mortgage application process and go on with your life while your Miami mortgage loan broker works hard at obtaining the loan for you.

Refinancing a Miami Fl mortgage is a good idea any time you want to consolidate debts or lower your interest rate. It can also be a good idea when varying financial circumstances makes it hard to meet the monthly payment.

By refinancing the loan to one with a longer term, you may decrease your monthly payments substantially. Usually, you may choose to consider refinancing every time you have the ability to lower your interest rate by over ½ a point. If you refinance for under than ½ a point difference, the cost of the new mortgage won’t be covered by the savings experienced from the lower rate.

You could in addition choose to refinance your Miami mortgage for one with a shorter life so that you pay off your house soon by building up equity in less time. With shortened life, the loan will be paid off faster and the total interest paid will be lower.

An additional popular reason to refinance your Miami mortgage is to obtain the funds required to do home improvements or to pay out big expenses. In order to do this, you need to have enough equity in your house to obtain the needed cash out.

People also refinance their ARM mortgages to avoid rate increases. ARM’s (also called ATM’s) have become very popular during the last five years because of their flexibility. The problem with ARM’s is that after a couple of years, there is a recast of the loan and the monthly payments tend to experience a large increase.

If you expect to stay in your house for a long time, you may want to refinance your Miami mortgage with a 30 year fixed-rate loan. With a locked in rate, you get the predictable payments during the mortgage term.

If you are thinking of moving within the next few years, you might want to think about getting another ARM. Usually, ARM’s start with a lower interest rate and might match your financial goals better.

If you desire to have a clear idea of what is the best kind of Miami mortgage loan for you, you may call me and we’ll look at your present mortgage and your financial goals to arrive to the right mortgage for you. We will look at things such as:

• The lowest rate you can apply for
• How long do you wish to take to pay your loan
• Are you expecting to increase your earnings in the coming years or will they remain constant
• The tax consequences of your new Miami mortgage loan

Finally, keep in mind that refinancing is a very good choice when you are expecting to live in the house for over 2 years. If t’s not so, the cost of refinancing a Miami Beach mortgage won’t be recouped.