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NMLS 209726 - A Division of Seattle Mortgage Brokers LLC
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140+ 5 Star Reviews
20+ Years Experience in Seattle
Kyle Taniguchi
I closed on my first home a couple months ago and I have nothing but positive things to say. Joe and his team work fast and were very responsive whenever I reached out with questions. Joe was extremely patient answering all my questions and did a great job of educating me as a first time homebuyer -- Joe truly has a gift.
Just one example of how great Seattle's Mortgage Broker is: I setup a meeting with Joe on a Friday morning. Joe asked if I was planning on making any offers over the weekend. I said maybe, as there was a condo I really wanted to see. Well, Joe and his team worked hard that day to get all the paperwork processed and I got my pre-approval before the weekend even started.
I highly recommend Seattle's Mortgage Broker for anyone looking for a home loan!
Mathew Kim
Working with Joe and team was exactly what me and my family needed. When working with Joe initially to do a refinance, he was very personable, and responsive to any questions we had. He didn't make you feel dumb or a bother with the hundreds of questions we had. We had a unique situation where I wasn't eligible for a refinance for another 6 months. In talking with Joe, because he had promised things would work out (not realizing an unknown factor I wasn't aware of) he offered to pay for my appraisal when we did the process again in 6 months. When the time came where I became eligible, Joe's team provided me prompt quotes, as I started shopping around different lenders again and they never were pushy. Once I chose Joe's team to go forward with, they were able to use a lot of the info I provided previously and was very prescriptive on what I needed to provide and how I could obtain that info(which was great, since just telling me what I need to provide can lead me scrambling to locate that info) Overall, I definitely would recommend Joe to others looking to do a refinance. They were competitive in rates, not the best rates but in the ballpark, but when you work with the lenders with the best rates, you also get no customer service. I choose to pay an extra hundredth of a percentage point to have the peace of mind that I'm in good hands.
Bo Olson
I am way overdue posting this review, but I worked with SMB purchasing my first home, and I can't say enough good things about them and their process. It was incredibly daunting to me to be looking at houses, but they were patient, extremely responsive and receptive to my questions. I truly don't know how I would have done it in this market without this team behind me. It was reassuring to know they had my back and were taking care of things every step of the way (no matter how many times I called for payment estimates). Major shout out to Joe and especially Austin, who was there immediately every time I reached out. Not only is this team fast and professional, they are kind. Go with SMB.
more Faqs
Good credit starts at 700 but maxes out around 760, depending on which lender you go with. If you are considering an FHA mortgage then good credit starts at 660. Credit score operate in increments of 20pt brackets so a 660 will be viewed as the same score all the way up to a 679. A 740 all the way up to 759 and so on.
There are three main points you should consider when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage. The industry refers to it as the 3 C's. Credit, Collateral and Capacity.
Your credit score is an indicator of your likelihood to make things work, even when money is tight, so the higher the better. If you believe you have a score in the upper 600 range, you are looking good.
Collateral has to do with your down payment. Around Seattle there are two major options, one is with Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and called "Conventional Financing" wile the other is Gennie Mae and called "FHA Financing". Conventional requires a minimum of 3% if you have moderate to low income (under 100k/yr) or 5% down for those over the income limits. FHA only requires 3.5% for their down payment and does not have income limitations. For people with low down payments, FHA is by far the most common method of purchasing a home.
Lastly Capacity has to do with your ability to repay the loan. The lender calculates this ability with a term called Debt to Income or DTI which is a ratio of your gross income vs. how much you owe in credit, auto, student loan and personal loan debts. The DTI ratio calculates only the minimum payments on these debts and is not concerned with anything that does not show up on a credit report like, cell phones, auto insurance, water bills, etc.
Seattle Jumbo loans start at anything above $726,525. Because of the high price point for Seattle, the median purchase price in 2018 has hovered right around $550,000. The thing to note about loan limits is they have to do with the amount you are borrowing, not buying. For example; you are purchasing a home for $825,000 but have a $100,000 down payment. This would put your loan amount into the conforming high-balance limit because you are only borrowing $725,000.
Getting pre approved for a home loan is a lot easier than you may think. There are only two steps and if you are a list oriented person, the process is a breeze.
First you should find the loan officer you want to work with, once you have had a chance to speak to a couple and have weighed the pros/cons of each you can move onto step two, the application.
Most applications can be completed online or, if you prefer, over the phone during the first step. Filling out the online paperwork should take less than 15 minutes and it will only ask questions you’re sure to know the answers to, make sure to supply the documentation the loan office lists out for you in the phone call/follow up email so they can thoroughly review your qualifications.
Pro-tip; if you are issued a pre approval or pre qualification letter and you have not supplied your supporting mortgage documentation, you need to be wary of your loan officers commitment to you, they have not done their job thoroughly enough for you to shop for your home confidently.
Once you have completed these simple two steps your pre approval can be issued, typically on the same day!