Mortgages: Made Easier With Happy Hour

By SoFi General | May 06, 2016 | Lifestyle, mortgage, SoFi News | No Comments

Buying your first home is one of those irreplaceable, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. It’s also incredibly overwhelming. So we thought, why not kick things off over happy hour?

We’ve hosted 5 mortgages events and counting across 5 cities. Each event is an opportunity for potential homeowners to get their questions answered by our team, meet other SoFi members who are in the same (house?)boat, and celebrate that next step together.

Just last month, we had one of these pre-home get-togethers at Bergerac in San Francisco. Read on to see how it all went down and find answers to your top mortgage questions.

So, what’s the home buying process like?

First, see how much financing you and any co-borrower qualify for at SoFi.com. Then take into account how much down payment you’re comfortable putting down and how much you’d like to pay each month. You’ll then know your price range. Start looking at home listings and visiting open houses. Make sure you log in to your SoFi account to get your pre-approval three months before you plan on buying. Once you make your offer and it’s accepted, you and your realtor will work with SoFi to close on your future home.

What’s the deal with SoFi Home Loans?

We’re not afraid to do things differently. For one, you can pre-qualify and check your rates in two minutes. Two. Minutes. And when you do check, you’ll see how much more financing you qualify for (as compared to what other lenders offer). We have flexible down payment options and no hidden fees. Plus, after pre-approval, your offer will be as good as cash. With SoFi, only two to three months of “reserves” (i.e. cash to make two to three months of mortgage payments) are required. The typical lender wants to see twelve. See? Different.

What can you reasonably afford?

Once you’re pre-qualified, you’ll have a better idea on the loan amounts and rates SoFi’s offering you. Use that information to make your budget.

How far in advance should we start the process?

Well..how fast can you gather and upload the required documents? The amount of time to get pre-approved depends on when you submit pay stubs, bank statements, and more to SoFi. After that, it generally will take two to three business days. Consider starting the process about three months before you plan on buying.