Don’t let financing break your deal. You’d be surprised how much stronger your offer will be when accompanied by a loan pre approval letter, or how toothless it is without one. And, when you go into escrow, if your ducks weren’t already in a row, the scheduled closing date can come and go while your loan underwriter is still asking more questions.

Get Pre Approved in advance of making any offers. Make sure the approval is based on verifying your income and liabilities, tax returns and accounts - not simply a quick read of your app and credit score.

We recommend you complete the Uniform Residential Loan Application . Leave section I and II blank. Fill in sections III through X. Combine the Uniform Residential Loan Application (Fannie Mae 1003 form) into one Adobe PDF file with your last 2 years Income Tax, Last 2 pay stubs, most recent loan balances, cash balances, investment account balances. Then it's easy to fax or email your app to as many banks as you wish. You are probably going to say that's a lot of work, lots of pages and details. Relax, your are going to have to provide all that information to the bank sooner or later so you might as well do it now.

Ask for a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) or equivalent and a Truth In Lending Disclosure (TIL) or equivalent. Use the shopping cart on page 3 of the GFE to shop for the best rate and terms. Calculate the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) using this online tool, Excel or contact us an we will do it for you. Tell prospective lenders not to ping your credit score until you've chosen the lender you've decided to borrow from. Make sure you understand the Rate Lock procedure and how long your loan approval is good for.

If you’re getting a Condo, ask the lender if their underwriters have approved the building(s) and land tenure type that you are interested in (Fee Simple vs. Leasehold). Not every Condo has loan underwriting approval by every bank. Banks often specialize in certain types condos. For example, many won't do Condotels. If they do, they often distinguish between a lodging unit and one that has a 4 burner cooktop, regular oven, refrig and sink. They look at characteristics such as, owner occupancy rates, is there any leasehold in the building, is the unit you want a leasehold unit? If so, how much time is left on the lease? Are there any law suits in the building? Does the AOAO insurance policy meet their minimum requirements? You don't need to dig into those details yourself but the underwriters do. It is possible for a condo that is not previously approved to become approved but that takes more time since underwriting has to review it.

If you are getting a USDA loan make sure the region(s) where you are looking to buy are USDA qualified and if there’s any expiration dates out there you need to be concerned about.

Not all condos are approved for Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Check to see if the Condo(s) you are interested in are approved.

The same goes for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans.   Find out what the qualification are.   Click here to check which condos are approved.

If you are looking at fixer uppers, review the fixer upper 203(k) program. And ask the banks you are checking with if they offer any other fixer upper loan programs.

If you are a first time home buyer like 40% of the other buyers out there, ask about any first time home buyer programs.

Here's some loan rate information. The Freddie Mac list is a national average. The HBR list is not always up to date. Think twice, no, three times before working with a mainland lender. Often they will tell you no problem up front only to bail on you near the end of escrow. Their loan underwriters just aren't good to go on Hawaii Real Estate. There may be exceptions and someday there might be more that will.