Questions about the USDA mortgage application process in Florida? How and where to apply? Contact us below to discuss the complete application process and preparing for your home purchase in 2020. Below we have listed some USDA application steps to give you some insight on what to expect.
The lender will first want to do a basic review to find out what your goals are. What city do you want to live in? How much do you want your payment to be? Do you want to buy a new home or an existing home? How many borrowers will be applying for the USDA loan?
- Getting Pre-approved- During the USDA loan pre-approval process you will receive a letter of credit approval. This means that you meet the preliminary requirements to secure a loan with the USDA. Credit, job history, debt to income, etc. The purpose to get pre-approved in advance is to find out what you qualify for and so that you can manage your expectations. Additionally, if you wish to write a contract on a house to buy you will have to have an approval letter do so. Most home sellers and realtors will require a letter of loan pre approval.
- Start searching for your perfect home that corresponds to the approval parameters. We will put you in touch with one of our local USDA realtors to help you find a home that is perfect for you! You will meet with the realtor to look at a list of houses, review exactly what your desires are and begin the search from that point. The USDA mortgage is available in small towns, cities and communities all through Florida. The 100% USDA loan is also available on the outskirts of major metropolitan cities like Orlando FL, Tampa FL, Jacksonville FL, Tallahassee FL, Gainesville FL, Naples FL to name a few. With the USDA loan, eligible properties are single-family homes and townhomes Mobile homes are not eligible. Homes that require major repairs can be a challenge to get financing for.
- Once you find a home that you want to purchase, your realtor will be able to prepare an offer on the house. If the offer is approved you’ll sign a purchase agreement with the seller. This is when the USDA loan process begins. All the inspections, appraisal, etc will take place once your purchase contract is fully approved by ALL parties involved. This includes the selling bank or investor if the house being sold is a short sale, REO, etc. In most cases, you will be required to submit a good faith or earnest money deposit (figure about 0.5% – 1% of the purchase price in most cases) to show your seriousness in buying the home. This money can be applied to everything at closing.
- USDA Loan processing. During the USDA loan processing step, we will collect your documents to start preparing the loan. You will submit 2 years of tax returns / W2, 30 days of pay-stubs, and 60 days of bank statements. Once complete the USDA mortgage disclosures will be sent to you for signing. You will review and sign the mortgage papers and send them back to us.
- Inspections will be done on the property. A general property inspection, termite (WDO) inspection. If the home has a well and septic these will have to be inspected as well. Assuming all inspections came back satisfactory the lender will order the appraisal. The appraisal is a critical part of the process. It will determine how much the home is actually worth, site any potential hazards, and ensure that you are not overpaying for the property.
- Once the lender has completed the underwriting, appraisal and cleared all loan conditions, the file gets submitted to the USDA office for final review. During this step, USDA reviews everything to make sure the loan meets all the USDA RD qualification requirements. This process takes about a week in Florida. Once complete a commitment letter is issued from USDA to the lender. This means the loan is approved and there are conditions that need to be satisfied in order to close.
- The big day… you go to closing to sign the final closing documents! You will go to a title company or real estate attorney office chosen in advance by the home sellers. The real estate attorney will go over the loan documents with you, we will send the funds to the seller. Once all the documents have been signed your loan will be funded and complete. You receive the keys to your home, call some friends and hope they will help you move!
Please contact us at ph: 800-743-7556 with any questions about the USDA loan application preapproval process here in Florida. You can also just submit your quick info request form on the right side of this page (upper left side for mobile users) to have a specialist contact you today.
Please also take a few minutes and view the all the FAQ located here https://usdamortgagesource.com/blog/frequently-asked-usda-rural-housing-loan-questions/
USDA Application Pre Approval