Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What does it take to qualify?
  2. How much can I qualify for?
  3. Pre-Qualified vs. Pre-Approved
  4. Using a Broker vs. Bank

What does it take to qualify?

Qualifying for a home loan for a purchase or a refinance starts with an initial (and of course free) consultation with one of our mortgage planners. You will go over a loan assessment analysis and we will obtain a copy of your credit report.

Based on this information, we will give you a detailed analysis of your credit report and give you advice on how to improve your credit scores, if necessary.

Then we will run some numbers with you and we will determine what you qualify for. We will go over a very detailed loan proposal that shows you everything you need to know about your future loan upfront so that there is no surprise along the way.

Once you are pre-qualified, we will work with you on the next step to get you approved with a strong loan commitment. See "pre-qualified vs. pre-approved" to know more about this next step.

Feel free to also look at the mortgage process to better understand what we do.


How much can I qualify for?

That's an answer every soon-to-be homeowner wants to know. And we will provide this answer to you after carefully reviewing your situation.

But better, we like to ask you the question: "how much do you want to pay for housing every month?" At Avenir Mortgage Planners, what most matters to us are your financial security and your happiness. Life should be fun and enjoyable, and it shouldn't be about struggling to make the mortgage payment every month.

That's why instead of relying on some loan underwriting guidelines that some lenders decided, we would rather focus on you and discover what you feel comfortable paying every month ... and this number will tell us what you qualify for. What a concept!

Feel free to look at the mortgage process to get a full picture of what you can expect from us.


Pre-Qualified vs. Pre-Approved

Actually that might surprise you but "pre-qualified" and "pre-approved" are synonyms! The bottom line is that as long as you have the "pre" in there, you are not approved.

Being pre-qualified or pre-approved is just the first step. It means we have analyzed your loan application and your credit report, everything looks good and the numbers make sense. It seems that you should be approved.

But in today's lending world, lenders scrutinize your loan file like a surgeon. And that's why we like to work with you on the next step: being approved (see how the "pre" disappeared?)

Being approved means that we have a written commitment to lend from a lending institution. It means we have collected all your documents (income, assets, etc.), carefully reviewed them, you have signed some loan disclosures, we have sent a full loan package to a lender, the lender has underwritten the file and the lender approved your loan. As you can see, it is completely different.

If you are buying a new home being approved will make a huge difference. It will increase your likelihood of getting your offer accepted.

For more questions on the approval, apply now or contact us today.


Using a Broker vs. Bank

There are 2 huge differences between working with a broker and working with a bank:

Broker = more choices = lower interest rates

A bank will offer you one interest rate: the rate that the bank has. You like it or you don't, that's the rate you get.

As a mortgage brokerage company, Avenir Mortgage Planners is approved with the top banks and lending institutions in the industry. That means more choices. That means more loan programs. That means more interest rates. That means competition. That means you get a lower interest rate because we shop around for you.

Broker = more requirements = better knowledge, better ethics and better advice

2010 marked the implementation of the Secure And Fair Enforcement Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act). That means, that starting January 1st 2011, loan officers working for mortgage brokers (such as Avenir Mortgage Planners) have had to:

  • Go through a thorough background check
  • Get fingerprinted
  • Go through a personal credit report check and analysis
  • Pass the National Component Test of the SAFE Act with a minimum grade of 75% (Greg Lartilleux passed it with a 90% grade in October 2010)
  • Pass the California Component Test of the SAFE Act with a minimum grade of 75% (Greg Lartilleux passed it with a 90% grade in October 2010)
  • Been issued a unique identifier that tracks all the mortgage loans they do during their entire career
  • Do continuing education every year

This is great news for the consumer! That means that you can be assured that by working with one of our Certified Mortgage Planners, you are working with the most ethical and knowledgeable loan officers in the industry.

But does the SAFE Act impact all the loan officers in the industry? Sadly, no. The loan officers working at banks (depository institutions) are exempt from all these requirements! This sounds crazy but this is the law. Loan officers working at banks do NOT go through backgrounds checks, credit report checks and do NOT have to pass the SAFE Act examinations!

So who would you like to get your next mortgage from? A loan officer working at a bank or one of us?