Freddie Mac hub
Steps from search to keys
The order is the same for most home loans.
Before you shop
Read your credit reports, add up your debts and ask a lender for a pre-approval. A pre-approval is a lender's written look at what it may lend you. It is not a promise to lend.
Offer and loan estimate
After an offer is accepted you apply, and the lender sends a Loan Estimate within days. It lists the loan's terms and costs in one standard form, so you can compare lenders.
Inspection and appraisal
You book the inspection. The lender orders the appraisal.
Closing
A few days before closing you receive a Closing Disclosure. Compare it line by line with the Loan Estimate. At closing you pay what is due, and an escrow account usually collects part of each payment for taxes and insurance.
After closing
A servicer collects your payments. It may not be your lender, and the owner of the loan may be someone else again. Keep the servicer's name and look up the owner when you need to.
More Freddie Mac topics
- Freddie Mac does not lend to buyersIt buys loans from lenders. That one fact explains most of the words you will hear.
- Conforming loans and the yearly limitA loan can be too large for Freddie Mac to buy. The limit changes every year.
- Home Possible and other programsFreddie Mac gives lenders a program called Home Possible. A lender decides whether it fits you.
- PMI versus government insuranceEvery loan with a small down payment has some kind of insurance for the lender. Who provides it differs.
- The home has to pass tooA lender looks at the house as well as the buyer.
Educational only. AskResi is not a lender.