The underwriter reviews your loan package to make sure it conforms to all
the guidelines required for that loan product. They also review the
appraisal and title report and may do additional validation of employment,
mortgage payments, and credit. And, anything else they feel is necessary to
document your loan. They have ultimate power and decision authority over the
approval of your loan. The time required to do this is driven by the volume
in the market. If the market is flooded I have seen it take two weeks but
under normal conditions it only takes one to three days.
AUTOMATED UNDERWRITING:
Most lenders today use Automated Underwriting (by computer). The advantage is
less documentation and it speeds up the process. The computer actually makes
the approval decision and the underwriter only reviews the supporting
documentation and the appraisal. However, if any documentation is missing,
inaccurate, or does not agree with the 1003 (application), the loan will be
kicked out of this system until documentation requirements are met or the
loan is turned down or resubmitted. This can cause delays but they are
usually resolved quickly. Automated Underwriting can be completed in just a
matter of hours. But, ..If the market is flooded expect it to take longer.
CONDITIONS TO CLOSE:
When the underwriter is done reviewing your loan she will send "conditions
to close" to your loan officer. These are normally just requirements for
further documentation to support your file. When these needs have been
satisfied the underwriter will give a final approval and "clear to close".
CLEAR TO CLOSE:
When the loan officer gets the clear to close he then schedules and
coordinates with all the parties the time and location to sign the final
documents to close the loan. This normally only takes an hour.