The APPROVED Checklist
A free, interactive version of the checklist from APPROVED. Check off what’s been tried, see what’s still open, and know exactly what to ask before you accept a no.
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The APPROVED Checklist
From Chapter 44. Use it to find out which loans were tried, what stopped yours, and which choices could fix that problem. Checking a box means you got an answer, not an approval.
Check the basic loans
Check these separately. An answer about FHA tells you nothing about whether someone tried conventional.
Separate the cash problems
Put your down payment on one line and the other purchase costs on another. Money that can help with one line doesn't always work for the other.
Check who could help
Be clear about what someone is offering before putting their name on the loan. Giving you cash and promising to repay your mortgage are very different favors.
Check how your income was counted
Before switching to a special product, check whether different proof of earnings could make an ordinary loan work.
Check the house itself
Sometimes the house stopped the loan. More income won't produce missing condo papers or finish a repair.
Check the payment and your job
Bring the student loan statement even when the bill says $0. The amount due and the amount counted for your mortgage can differ.
What You’ll Need
The papers to have on hand before you sit down with the checklist above or call a loan officer.
Questions to Ask Any Loan Officer
From Chapter 45. Ask what could stop your loan and whose rule is stopping it — you don’t need mortgage vocabulary for this conversation, just answers you can use.
- 1.“What, exactly, is keeping this loan from working?”
- 2.“If we fix that, what else could stop the loan?”
- 3.“Is that a HUD rule, or is that this lender's rule?”
- 4.“Do you do manual underwriting here?”
- 5.“Which loans do you offer that could help with this?”
- 6.“Which loans that could help me don't you offer?”
- 7.“What monthly income and debt payments are you using for me?”
- 8.“What income did you leave out, and why?”
- 9.“How much cash do I need altogether, and what are you assuming someone else will pay?”
- 10.“Show me the cash total if the seller pays nothing.”
- 11.“Show me both choices with the same house price and down payment.”
- 12.“What am I paying up front to get that payment?”
- 13.“What have you checked, and what are you still assuming?”
- 14.“What could change the answer before we finish?”
- 15.“Does this house cause a problem for the loan we're discussing?”
- 16.“What happens next, who does it, and when should I hear back?”
- 17.“Can you show me how that changes the loan?”
This toolkit covers 2 of APPROVED’s 48 questions. The book walks through the other 46 — FHA deal-savers, down payment help, co-signers, zero-down programs, and what to do after a bank says no.
Get the book