New York City First time Condo Buyer and Investor Part 2 -Getting a Mortgage Is Not All About You
- What is the Condo Market
- Getting a Mortgage Is Not All About You
- New Construction Condos – What don’t I know
- Buying as an Investment
- How do I figure out if this is a good deal or not in 2017?
So what are we talking about when we say Getting a Mortgage is Not All About You? We often hear the buyers say, “Oh don’t worry about it, I can easily get a mortgage. I have a good credit score and we are pre-approved already, I did it online!”
So, what are we talking about when we say that its not that simple. What’s not simple about it is there is a 2nd step, an often overlooked step that can be problematic. That 2nd step is that the bank will also want to approve the condominium building you are purchasing in.
STEP 1, the Easy Step: You the buyer gets qualified. This is the straight forward step, you will speak to the mortgage banker, provide them with all of your personal documentation and they will tell you if you are qualified and for how much.
This is straightforward because based on your down payment, income, debts and credit history, you will get a close idea of where you stand with the bank.
ProTip: Use a Mortgage Banker that is Experienced with the New York City Condominium Market. Using a mortgage banker or internet lender that is not familiar with New York City market and the idiosyncrasies involved here is going to likely cause you trouble. There are a lot of pitfalls and challenging scenarios that an experienced mortgage banker will know exactly how to navigate for you.
Now that you have gotten yourself pre-approved you are ready to buy that condo! Here is where most people make a frustrating mistake because you are missing a crucial step in the process.
STEP 2, the step that can cause you lots of frustration, the bank will also be looking to qualify the condominium itself. First they qualified you, now they will be looking to approve the building.
So what is so hard about approving the building? Each building is unique and different, no two buildings are the same. What is important to understand is that not all banks are as easy to work with. The big conventional lenders often have the most strict guidelines and often have a conservative approach to approving buildings The process of getting the building approved involves asking for documentation from management companies, giving it to the bank underwriters, then waiting to see what they have to say. Often you will submit the documents the underwriters originally asked for, and then they ask for more documents on top of that, now you are going back to the management again, Rinse and Repeat.
Some Common Issues that Many Condo Buildings Run Into: Too many Non-Owner Occupied Apartments, One Person Owns too Many Condos in the Building, Too Much Commercial Space in the Building, An Assessment or Lawsuit the Building is Involved In.
So What Should you do? This is where we can help you along the process, and mortgage lender you are working with are worth their weight in gold to make sure this deal happens for you.
Pro Tip: 
Before you make an offer, check the address of the building by your mortgage banker and see at the very least if the bank has that building on their “pre-approved” list. Even if the answer is Yes, it’s approved, the bank could still ask for more documentation or updated documentation.
If you went in alone in the purchase, already have a contract signed, they are sending out an appraiser already, which you are paying for, and you get a call or email that you may not get the mortgage because there is something wrong with the building, and your mortgage contingency is coming up really soon, this will become very stressful for you.
You assumed that you would have no problems because you had your pre-approval letter, which is a common mistake, but its likely this could have been avoided.
A huge part of the value of working with an experienced condominium agent is that we take you, we are guiding you on the journey of buying a condominium. We know where the typical pitfalls are along this journey, one of them being the common issues with getting a mortgage. We fill in the missing pieces for you that you didn’t even know about.
There are many aspects of the mortgage process that can delay or affect on your purchase, let’s discuss this now and be prepared! Let us help you and make this process as easy as possible.
This is a five part series blog posts. You can read about by clicking on the links below:
- What is the Condo Market
- Getting a Mortgage Is Not All About You
- New Construction Condos – What don’t I know
- Buying as an Investment
- How do I figure out if this is a good deal or not in 2017?
Call us at (917)837-8869.
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