If you’ve never applied for a home loan before, be prepared to answer a few questions. Quite a few as a matter of fact. Of course, the lender needs to know the basics like what’s your name and where do you live, and so on. You’ll need to provide your social security number to help identify you but there are also some questions you might think are a little odd. Here are some of those questions and why they’re asked.
How old are you?
When the application asks for your date of birth, it’s there for a couple of reasons. One, to help identify you for credit report purposes, and two, it’s to make sure you’re legally able to enter into a contract with the lender. This means the lender wants to make sure you’re 18 or older.
Do you have any kids?
Again, sounds like a nosy question. I mean, what does it really matter if you have kids or not? These kids are dependents. There are some loans that need to calculate ‘residual’ income, such as VA loans. It’s assumed that if you have children, you will definitely have some more expenses than if you didn’t.
What’s your marital status?
This question digs in a little deeper. You can be single, separated, or divorced. If you’re single, you move on to the next question on the application. Being separated literally means there’s a legal separation agreement. This agreement can dictate who pays for what bills accrued jointly during the marriage. Being separated doesn’t just mean they no longer live together, but is in fact a legal, enforceable agreement. Being divorced opens up a whole new can of worms.
First, a copy of your divorce decree, signed by all parties including the presiding judge. This decree will show if there are any support payments to be made including both alimony and child support. If you receive any such support, the payments will need to be verified as being made on time with a proven track record of doing so, that is if the support payments are being used to help qualify.
The application also wants to know if you’re party to a lawsuit. If so, there might be a situation where you may have to come up with some sort of financial settlement.
There are lots of other questions, and these are typically the ‘head-scratchers’ but they really do have a legitimate intent. If you’re not sure how to answer some of them, call your loan officer who can help.
