[jpvillager]

Defiantly get prequalified. Mortgages are a lot messier these days in that there is a lot of back and forth with the bank on them needing more info and documents as you progress. Could make meeting a tight closing schedule more difficult. We have had several mortgages with Citizens and were very pleased. However, last time we refinanced they would not equal the rate given to us by Bank of America. We switched to BoA checking years age when we wanted a one "local" bank in two different states. I believe BoA is the only national bank there. A lot of people bad mouth BoA but they work for us.
Prequalifing will put you in a better negotiating position, and give you peace of mind. It may also give a good estimate on closing costs. Also remember that rates are on the rise and you should know at what rates you and will be are qualified at. I don't know but would assume you are qualified for only so many days or months.
Good luck.

[Tom52]

OP again, thank you all for the information so far. To clarify we will be looking for a pre-owned home. It appears that I should wait until late November to early December to contact a mortgage broker since we will not start our search before January. It would be very inconvenient to try and arrange a mortgage once arrived in TV if all financial documents are 1200 miles away.

I may contact Lending Tree on line or maybe check with a larger CU such as Pentagon Federal to learn about timing and to see what we need to qualify for a loan. I think it may be a little problematic since we have relatively low income. We do not yet take SS benefits, but have plenty of investments that can be drawn upon to show income streams. I am sure there will be some "hoop jumping" required on our part.

[Dan9871]

Originally Posted by Tom52

OP here again, should have mentioned we will only be looking at existing homes. Does Citizens First also handle mortgages on existing homes since they are owned by the developer?

Yes, Citizens Bank handles mortgages on houses owned by the developer. BTW, Citizens Bank is owned by the developer.

Also Citizens Bank almost always gets things done in time for the 30 day closing the developer requires.

You can only buy new homes (what you are calling existing homes ) from Villages Properties, which is also owned by the developer.

[Carla B]

We sold our condo in South Florida to a buyer who lived in Michigan. The buyer insisted on using his neighborhood PNC bank in Michigan for the mortgage. PNC was completely flummoxed by this transaction; they had never before financed a condo in Florida. They kept insisting on more and more documents from the condo association, so much so that the closing was delayed by a whole month and resulted in a great deal of frustration for everyone.

I understand that issuing a mortgage on a condo may be more complicated than on a single-family house, but if you use a bank from outside Florida you should know in advance exactly what paperwork is required.

[Buffalo Jim]

Tom52 : Retired banking exec here . Sent you a long , detailed Private Message . Didn't want to take up this public space with so much info .
Best to you on your search and purchase .

[HandyGrandpap]

Originally Posted by Tom52

OP here again, should have mentioned we will only be looking at existing homes. Does Citizens First also handle mortgages on existing homes since they are owned by the developer?

The agent i used from Franklin TN with Franklin Synergy was John Misky. 615-310-2687. He closed for our home in the villages. He is the best I have ever worked with and stays on top of all of the details as the process evolves. I have closed on numerous homes over the years from transfer and up/down sizing. His rates are consistently lower than what I could find from any other lender.

[kathyspear]

Originally Posted by Tom52

It would be very inconvenient to try and arrange a mortgage once arrived in TV if all financial documents are 1200 miles away.

When we bought our current winter place near Tampa we were spending the winter at another FL condo. Getting that mortgage was a nightmare because my financial papers were all up in PA. I spent about a week of my life calling insurance companies and mortgage companies and county tax assessors etc. in order to come up with all the papers the mortgage company required for the two properties we owned at the time. As someone else mentioned, the mortgage process has gotten considerably more complicated since the housing crash. Be prepared to be tortured!

kathy

[Retiring]

The OP asked about being pre-approved and the thread replies are about pre-qualified. I believe the two are oranges and apples. Maybe a retired banker on this board can explain the difference.

If I’m a seller and a buyer comes to me pre-qualified, it means nothing. If a buyer comes pre-approved, let’s talk.

[rjm1cc]

If I was selling my parents home I would probably want to sell it as soon as possible and not want not want to risk poor credit on the part of the buyer or a bad inspection report from the mortgage company. Now if I was having trouble finding a buyer I would take the risk.

[thetruth]

Originally Posted by Tom52

DW and I will be coming to TV for the 3rd time this coming January. We hope to find us a home this trip for either snow-birding or maybe full time living. We are not very familiar with the intricacies of obtaining a mortgage in Florida. Is it necessary to be pre-approved for a mortgage ahead of a serious house search? If so can you recommend someone locally to contact?

We checked with our local small town bank and they would not make a 30 year fixed mortgage on a Florida property.

Check what I am saying.

First of all a ore-approved mortgage means little or nothing. You supply the information. The bank does not spend money to verify the information you supply till you actually apply for the mortgage.
Our formerly local bank said they would do it BUT, they stalled on and on so we nevr got it from them.

We have excellent credit but having had a paid up mortgage etc we have little history. The fact is good credit is borrowing money and paying it back. No borrowing money does not get you a good credit rating.

We also used CITIZENS FIRST which as far as I know is owned by the villages. They were knowlegable and helpful.
Getting a mortgage is sadly amusing. There are rules that must be followed. As to amusining-we are no longer working. What we get from social security and a very small pension will not pay our bills the rest comes from savings. We needed to show more income to qualify for a morgage. Citizens first told us to get a statement from our brokerage that we have arranged to have them send a check for xxxxx every month. It was amusing. The brokerage told us they get this all the time. They even have a form for this. We completed the form, we got the mortgage and as the brokerage told us we cancelled the monthly withdrawal a week later-ALL THIS IS LEGAL.

Speaking of strange. The average age here is 70. They cannot hold your age against you. So a 70 year old can qualify for a 30 year mortgage. HUH? they will be 100 when they pay it off.

As to having come here 3x we did not buy until the fourth trip. As to snowbirding. We did not even consider it. Our parents on both sides had passed away. Our next door neighbor real trash was one of the reasons we were happy to leave. We escaped a 6% New York State tax, a 3% New York City tax, about 3x the real estate tax for a place half the size of what we now have.

[Buffalo Jim]

Originally Posted by thetruth

Check what I am saying.

First of all a ore-approved mortgage means little or nothing. You supply the information. The bank does not spend money to verify the information you supply till you actually apply for the mortgage.
Our formerly local bank said they would do it BUT, they stalled on and on so we nevr got it from them.

We have excellent credit but having had a paid up mortgage etc we have little history. The fact is good credit is borrowing money and paying it back. No borrowing money does not get you a good credit rating.

We also used CITIZENS FIRST which as far as I know is owned by the villages. They were knowlegable and helpful.
Getting a mortgage is sadly amusing. There are rules that must be followed. As to amusining-we are no longer working. What we get from social security and a very small pension will not pay our bills the rest comes from savings. We needed to show more income to qualify for a morgage. Citizens first told us to get a statement from our brokerage that we have arranged to have them send a check for xxxxx every month. It was amusing. The brokerage told us they get this all the time. They even have a form for this. We completed the form, we got the mortgage and as the brokerage told us we cancelled the monthly withdrawal a week later-ALL THIS IS LEGAL.

Speaking of strange. The average age here is 70. They cannot hold your age against you. So a 70 year old can qualify for a 30 year mortgage. HUH? they will be 100 when they pay it off.

As to having come here 3x we did not buy until the fourth trip. As to snowbirding. We did not even consider it. Our parents on both sides had passed away. Our next door neighbor real trash was one of the reasons we were happy to leave. We escaped a 6% New York State tax, a 3% New York City tax, about 3x the real estate tax for a place half the size of what we now have.

Statistically the average mortgage loan in the USA is paid off by one means or another -- usually a home sale within 7 years .
This " average term " is factored into the underlying business / financing principles which govern the operations of " The Mortgage Business ".

[Buffalo Jim]

Originally Posted by Retiring

The OP asked about being pre-approved and the thread replies are about pre-qualified. I believe the two are oranges and apples. Maybe a retired banker on this board can explain the difference.

If I’m a seller and a buyer comes to me pre-qualified, it means nothing. If a buyer comes pre-approved, let’s talk.

The " term " which a buyer and seller would be looking for would be what is at least internally called a
" Commitment Letter ". It is the end product of a pre-approval process .
It is usually very straightforward and clearly indicates that the issuing institution is committing to lend up to $X amount and at X rate for X years with a minimum of X% [ usually 20% ] down . And the " commitment" is good until X date .
All in about 3 paragraphs long and accompanied by required Federal and State legal disclosure documents for the Buyer .

[diva1]

Sure! They want all the business they can get.

[jblum315]

i got pre-approved by Citizens over the phone from New York 9 years ago. Totally hassle free and saved a lot of time and futzing around

[charmed59]

We used Wells Fargo, as they are my long time bank and can also be found in the Villages. We were able to get a mortgage tied down in 4 days, after the mortgage broker suggested by our Villages agent couldn’t nail down anything in two weeks. It was no problem closing in the remaining 2 week window.

My parents used Citizens, and found it a bit frustrating, but they did get their mortgage ontime.

For a pre-owned home, I found the sellers weren’t as interested in pre-approval as they would be in other places. I bought two houses here, one for cash, and the sellers never even asked where the money was coming from.