How soon should my lender tell me if my final approval is not final?

Question

How soon should my lender tell me if my final approval is not final?

Answer 1

As soon as he knows.  The conditional approval is based on information you provide and your credit report.  The lender will need to do several things before a final approval.  He has to verify all the information about you, wages, assets, employment history, whatever else he asked you to provide.  Then the credit is approved, but the value of the house and the ownership is still outstanding.  The appraisal will allow him to approve the property.  The title company searches through country records to be sure the current owner has the right to sell, there are no other owners with rights, there are no undisclosed liens, etc.  Once the title company has cleared the title, you finally have a loan approval.  Things can happen in a different order, depending on when documentation is provided.

Then the processor has to call you.  Most processor are usually overwhelmed by the number of loans they're working at one time.  Even with the best of intentions, it may be a day or two after he knows it's ok that he can connect with you.  I used to make calls when I knew no one was home so I could just leave a message.  If I had to actually talk to someone, I'd get behind.  As an underwriter, I would frequently review upwards of 30 new loans every day.  If I had questions about something I would have to call either the customer, the loan originator or both.  The more calls I have to make the fewer loans I could complete, and I had to do 23 minimum.  

So here's what you do:  Every day, you call and very nicely ask.  If the processor says he doesn't know yet, ask if he'll know by 11 am.  Then you call back at 11.  Now you ask, very very politely, if the approval is final.  Will you know by 3?  Call back at 3.  The processor may be waiting for the underwriter to give the final ok, and if you nag him he'll nag his supervisor who will nag the underwriting supervisor who will nag the underwriter.  BUT if you're nasty you will be ignored.  We're all human too, and tend to be more aggressive for people who treat us well.