Our 7-Step Mortgage Approval Process
Your path to success.
Our mortgage application and approval process is an organized and sequential procedure that helps you progress towards your goals with confidence and clarity. A plan helps you define the scope of your objective and anticipate commonly encountered pitfalls. How long the mortgage approval process takes depends on how busy lenders are and how quickly you can provide the requested documents. We use checklists and diligent communication to keep things moving along. The approximate number of business days to complete each step are shown in brackets.
In this stage we get to know you as an applicant and determine the best course of actions to achieve your property and financial goals.
This complimentary 15 to 30 minute phone conversation allows us to delve into your loan and property goals, borrowing capacity, and the next steps tailored to your situation. If you seek reassurance, this initial step is key. Our aim is to swiftly assess your eligibility for a mortgage, determine your borrowing potential, and gauge your readiness to move forward with a formal application. We can also utilize screen sharing to walk through various what-if scenarios and calculations.
Following our conversation, we will email you a summary of our discussion and provide a roadmap for the next steps.
To kick things off, we invite you to complete our “Let’s Talk Questionnaire” and share some initial details, or engage with us via the chat bubble on our website. You can also reach us at 1.888.540.1715 anytime.
In this stage we review your application, support documents, and credit reports to insure that they will successfully support a mortgage approval. We also determine the best lenders and rates for your needs.
If it sounds like you could likely meet the requirements to qualify for a mortgage and would like to proceed with an application, we will send you a welcome email with a link to our secure Mortgage Application portal and Privacy Consent Form. After you complete the application, the system will generate a list of documents required to support your mortgage request, with a description of each document, why we need it, and where to locate it.
While you may be able to complete the application in an hour or so, locating and submitting the required documents is the step that will usually take you the most time and effort.
... the "heavy-lifting" on your part will be locating and submitting the required documents to support a mortgage application. This is the step that will usually take you the most time and effort.
These days, lenders want to see all application support documentation upfront and the list we generate for you is exactly what documents most lenders want to see. Frankly, if you are working with a Realtor, they too want to know that you and your documents have been properly veted before taking time to show properties.
Please take your time and make sure that you provide all the documents as requested by our secure application portal. Detailed descriptions of each document are provided and tips on where to locate them. It will take you time to locate, compile and electronically submit the documents to us, but once you are done, that is the heavy-lifting on your part. Collecting documents could take you a day (or a month!) depending on how busy, organized, and/or ready you are, so it is definitely a critical path step that needs doing up front. In carpentry, there is a saying "measure twice, cut once." The same applies in collecting documents. If you read the collection tips carefully for each request, that will make the task easier.
After you complete and submit your online application and privacy consent, we wait for you to provide the requested mortgage support documents. As you upload your documents, we begin to review and approve them, and if we have any questions we ask for clarification. We augment your information by pulling your credit bureau report and confirming your debt profile.
As we approach the final stages of reviewing your file documentation, we carefully assess which lenders align best with your specific needs in terms of rates, contract terms, and customer service. Our office maintains regular communication with our network of lenders to stay updated on the latest mortgage products, rates, terms, and special offers. Additionally, we take into consideration each lender's approval timeline to anticipate any potential delays.
Typically, we aim to have multiple potential lenders ready to approve your application and will inform you once your file and your documents have met the necessary requirements for their approval. Remember, you are not committed to any lender at this stage, even if we secure a rate hold for you. A pre-approval is a temporary condition for a specific amount of funding at a specific rate, provided there are no changes in your financial situation or the market.
A pre-approval provides you with the confidence to move forward, knowing that there is a strong likelihood of securing financing for your goal. It also helps identify any potential challenges you may encounter, allowing us to provide guidance on how to address them. It's important to note that a pre-approval is not a guarantee of financing.
To proceed with the next 'Approval Phase' of the mortgage approval process, we will need specific details on the target property supported by an accepted Offer to Purchase, or a property information sheet and a mortgage statement for a renewal or refinance application. If you are in the process of purchasing a property, we pause at this step to allow you to conduct your property search and negotiate an offer.
In this final approval phase, we work with the selected lender to process and finalize your mortgage approval, and then to transfer funds.
Once you have a property and we are ready to "go live", we update your electronic application with the property details and financing deadline and once again review the file with preferred lenders. A target lender is identified as having the best rate and terms for your situation. We then submit your loan application and property details to that lender via Filogix Express™ or the Finmo Digital Mortgage Platform and it enters the lender's electronic queue. Visualize this queue as a line-up at Costco or airport security!
Normal queue time for underwriting is around 24 hours. Sometimes during the busy spring season or interest rate promotions, there is a longer wait time in the queue (48-72+ hours) before an underwriter reviews your application which can slow an approval. A fast lender queue is definitely a factor in choosing who to submit to, but sometimes lower available rates and better terms justify the wait. The best lenders are typically the busiest!
Mortgage underwriting is the process lenders use to determine whether the risk of lending to a particular borrower is acceptable. To assess the risk of lending to you, lenders will evaluate your application against their qualification guidelines. The 4 key factors that lenders take into consideration are your income (your ability to afford all of your monthly financial obligations plus the new mortgage), your credit (your reputation of how well you manage the financial obligations you take on), your down payment savings or equity (how much of your own resources you will invest in the deal), and the property being mortgaged (what is the condition and characteristics of the property being used as collateral).
Think of these 4 factors as the legs of a chair that has to support your application. If one of the legs is a bit weak the application still might stand, but multiple weak legs and the application can no longer be supported.
If a lender declines to provide a commitment or is taking too long, we can re-submit to the next best lender. The good news is that - if you have completed our Pre-Approval Phase as is our normal process - then the likelihood of an approval with our target lender is very high.
Once the lender confirms that your application and the property meet their underwriting guidelines, we will receive an electronic "commitment letter" signifying that your application has been approved subject to a list of conditions. These conditions will outline the necessary documents to verify income, assets, employment, property details, and value (e.g., an acceptable appraisal). We will reach out to discuss the terms of their offer with you. If you find the offer acceptable, you can sign the commitment, and we will work towards fulfilling the applicable conditions.
Typically, most of the loan conditions can be satisfied with documents we already have on file. There may be a document review queue at the lender's end, so the sooner we submit the accepted commitment and all required support documents to the lender, the quicker we can reach "file complete," where all your financing conditions have been met and approved by the lender.
Subsequently, the lender will send "mortgage instructions" to your chosen lawyer or notary for funding. At this stage, we will inform you, your Realtor (if applicable), and your lawyer in writing that funding has been "approved." If there is a financing condition on an Offer to Purchase, you can now confidently instruct your Realtor to remove that condition.
At about 2 weeks prior to funding at the latest, your lawyer/notary will receive "mortgage registration instructions" from your lender to prepare and register the mortgage with the Land Titles Office and in the case of a purchase, to transfer the title of the property to you. If applicable, you or your Realtor will need to provide your lawyer with a fully executed Offer to Purchase.
You will be asked to set up an appointment to meet with your lawyer to sign papers, provide your down payment and closing costs, confirm adequate home fire insurance, and satisfy any remaining "solicitor conditions" (for example, to pay off a debt that you said you would pay off).
Caution! During the mortgage approval phase it is imperative that nothing changes in your employment, financial, or credit situation as the lender could still back out/decline your financing.
On the funding date, the lender transfers the funds to the lawyer's trust account and the lawyer then distributes the money to those who are supposed to get it.
In the case of a purchase, the Realtor will provide you with the keys and the lawyer will register your name on title! The loan is now closed.
There you have it, a better understanding of what it takes to get a mortgage approved successfully and with the least amount of stress for you and us! We like being organized so that there are no surprises. If you like what you see, we'd be happy to work with you.
Quantus Mortgage Solutions
5053 11 St SE
Calgary, AB T2H1M7
Canada
T: 403.238.3111
