Important Areas After Mortgage Funding Processes, Part 1

Within any mortgage loan situation, much of the attention is quite understandably paid to the period during which one acquires the mortgage. Between assessing credit and finances, searching for homes within your budget and finalizing your purchase, there’s a lot to think about during this phase of the process.

At Altius Mortgage and our partners at Mortgage Ogden, we’re thrilled to help with every stage involved in acquiring a mortgage, whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or an experienced real estate flipper. But we also help all our clients with the flip side of this equation: The period of time after you receive your mortgage funds. This two-part blog will dig into some important areas to look at as you move forward into homeownership and begin paying off your mortgage.

Confirm Funding

For starters, confirm that your mortgage actually came through and you have the funds required. Know that this process could take a few days after you sign your loan documents – refinances, in particular, tend to take at least three days due to a rescission period that’s often applied. After a reasonable period, however, confirm with your lender that funds have been paid.

Paperwork and Early Details

There are several areas of paperwork to organize in advance of receiving your funds, and it’s always good to double-check and review them now. Some basics to consider here include:

• Simple details: Monthly payment amount, mortgage insurance costs, interest rate, closing costs and more. If you used an adjustable-rate mortgage, check the margin and index plus your first adjustment date.
• First payment: Always take the time to learn when your first payment is due, something more buyers than you’d expect forget about with all the other details going on. Your first payment will usually be due after a month of full homeownership, though this depends on which part of the month you close during.
• Escrow refunds: Many buyers make the smart choice to pad cash during closing, just in case there are any unforeseen issues. This may lead to you being owed an escrow refund, which you should follow up on in the days following closing with the escrow officer.

Loan Servicer Details

In many mortgage cases, loans are taken out with one bank or lender, but are serviced by another. If this is the case, you’ll receive a letter in the mail soon after closing, informing you of a notice of transfer. This will include the details you need for making your payments to the right company.

Automatic Payment Setup

Making mortgage payments on-time is very important, and most buyers today utilize modern automatic payment capabilities that avoid any possibility of errors here. If you prefer to make manual payments each month, at least set a monthly reminder to ensure there’s never a slip-up.

Beware Scammers

Mortgages are public record, and unfortunately due to the volume of money involved in them, a couple types of scammers often pop up in the immediate aftermath of you signing your loan papers:

• Junk mail: Companies will try to fool you using what looks like legitimate emails or paper mail pieces, trying to act like a loan servicer, mortgage protection insurance company or other entity.
• Refinance solicitation: Even just months after taking out your original loan, you’ll often get correspondence about the amazing qualities of a refinance. Be very careful here.

For more on areas to cover after mortgage funds have come through, or to learn about any of our mortgage loan services, speak to the pros at Altius Mortgage today.