Your situation

Protecting your loan: application to closing

An approval is based on a snapshot of your finances. Lenders re-check that snapshot right before closing, so the weeks in between are the time to change nothing.

What not to do

• Don't open new credit: no new cards, car loans, furniture financing or "buy now, pay later" plans, even at 0% interest.
• Don't run up balances on the cards you have.
• Don't change jobs, quit, or switch from salary to commission or self-employment without talking to your loan officer first.
• Don't make large or cash deposits, or move money between accounts, without a paper trail.
• Don't co-sign for anyone else's loan.
• Don't miss a payment on anything, including rent.
• Don't close accounts or dispute items on your credit report mid-process without asking first. Both can change your score or stall your file.

If any of these has already happened, tell your loan officer now. Almost everything is easier to solve early than on closing day.

Why you get re-verified

• Employment: lenders must verbally confirm you're still employed within 10 business days before closing on conventional loans, and within 10 days on FHA.
• Credit: many lenders monitor or re-pull your credit before closing. If a new debt turns up, your debt-to-income ratio has to be recalculated, and your loan may have to be re-approved.
• Documents expire: on conventional loans your credit report, pay stubs and bank statements can't be more than four months old at closing. On a long transaction, expect to be asked for fresh ones.

Expect phone calls after your credit is pulled, but fewer than before

Until recently, a mortgage credit check could trigger a flood of calls from other lenders who had bought your information. Since March 2026, federal law sharply limits these "trigger leads" to lenders you already have a relationship with or have opted in to hear from.

Wire fraud: the most expensive mistake in a closing

Criminals watch for upcoming closings and send emails that look like they come from your title company, attorney or agent, with "updated" wiring instructions. Money sent to a fraudster is very hard to recover.

• Early on, pick two people you trust at your closing and lending offices and save their phone numbers.
• Before wiring anything, call one of them at that saved number and confirm the instructions. Never use a phone number or link from the email itself.
• Treat any change to wiring instructions as fraud until you've confirmed it by phone.
• Don't email bank account details or other financial information.
• If you think you've sent money to the wrong place, call your bank immediately and ask for a wire recall, then report it to the FBI at ic3.gov. Minutes matter.

Co-borrowers & co-signers

Adding someone to the loan can help you qualify. It also ties their finances to yours.

• Co-borrower: on the loan and on the title. Their income, debts and credit all count.
• Co-signer: signs the note and is fully responsible for the debt, but has no ownership in the home.
• Non-occupant co-borrower: someone on the loan who won't live in the home, often a parent. Conventional loans allow this with as little as 5% down through automated underwriting. FHA allows the minimum 3.5% down on a one-unit home only when the non-occupant is a family member; otherwise 25% down is required.

Adding someone brings in their income, and also their debts and their credit score. A co-borrower with strong income but a low score can make the loan more expensive. Anyone on the loan is responsible for it until it's paid off or refinanced, and it will count against them when they apply for credit of their own.

Divorce & separation

A recent divorce comes up in underwriting more than most buyers expect, and it's easier to handle when you bring the paperwork up front.

• Bring the full, signed decree or separation agreement. It tells the lender who owes what, who receives what, and who got which property.
• Debts assigned to your ex-spouse: if a court order assigns a joint debt to your ex, lenders generally don't have to count that payment against you, even though your name is still on the account. Late payments made before the assignment still count on your record.
• A home your ex kept: if you're still on that mortgage, the decree awarding it to your ex is the key document. Being removed from the title does not remove you from the loan. Only a refinance, sale or formal release does.
• Divorce not final yet: lenders can work from a legal separation agreement, but informal or proposed arrangements don't count. Many lenders prefer to wait for the final decree, because support and debts could still change.
• Community property states: on FHA, VA and USDA loans in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, a spouse's debts are counted even when they're not on the loan, until the marriage is legally over. In the other states, a spouse's debts count only if that spouse is on the loan.

If you only ever owned a home jointly with a former spouse, you may still qualify as a first-time buyer. See First-time homebuyer.

For how support payments count, see Child support & alimony.

Relocating for a job

Buying in a new city adds three problems to an ordinary purchase: your income may be about to change, you may still own a home somewhere else, and you may not be there in person. Tell your loan officer at the start that you are relocating, because each of these changes how the loan is put together.

Qualifying on a job you haven't started

You do not always need a pay stub from the new job to close. On a conventional loan there are two routes:

• With a first pay stub. The lender uses your signed offer letter to approve you, then collects a pay stub and confirms your employment before the loan is finalised.
• Before you start. For a one-unit home you will live in, you can close on the offer letter alone if the job starts no later than 90 days after closing, the offer has no unmet conditions, and you have extra savings: either six months of the full house payment, or enough to cover all your bills until your start date plus one more month.

In both cases the employer cannot be a relative or someone involved in the sale. USDA allows a job that starts within 60 days of closing if your savings cover the gap. FHA and VA have their own versions, so ask early. More on changing jobs is in Income & employment.

Help from your employer

• Relocation money. On a conventional loan, funds from an established employer assistance program can go toward your down payment and closing costs when you are buying a home to live in. The money has to come directly from the employer, and the lender will ask for the program terms in writing.
• A buyout of your current home. Some relocation packages include the employer, or a relocation company, buying your home if it does not sell. The signed buyout agreement serves as proof of the funds you will receive, and on some loans it also lets the lender leave the old mortgage payment out of your debts. Give your loan officer the agreement as soon as you have it.
• Lump sums and bonuses. A relocation bonus is treated like any other deposit: it needs a paper trail. A sign-on bonus is not counted as ongoing income.

The home you are leaving

If you are selling it, see Selling to buy for how the timing and the money work. If you are keeping it as a rental, see If you already own a home: relocating a long distance is one of the situations where rent from the old home can be counted.

Buying from a distance

• Your lender must be licensed where the home is, not where you live now. Confirm that before you apply.
• Rules change at the state line. Whether an attorney must handle the closing, how property taxes and homestead exemptions work, and what insurance costs can all be different. Run the Pre-Qualification Calculator with the new ZIP code so the taxes, insurance and loan limits reflect where you are going.
• Do not skip the inspection because you are far away. If you cannot attend, ask the inspector for a video walkthrough and a call afterwards.
• You may not need to travel to sign. Options include a mail-away closing, remote online notarization where state law allows it, or a power of attorney that lets someone sign for you. Each one needs your lender's and the closing agent's approval in advance. A power of attorney has to be notarized and name the property, and people involved in the sale generally cannot act for you unless they are a relative.
• Plan to move in promptly. A loan for a home you will live in normally requires you to move in within 60 days of closing and live there for at least a year.

If you already own a home

Owning another property affects both your debts and, sometimes, your income.

Buying while you still own a home

Your current mortgage payment counts in your debt-to-income ratio unless one of these applies:

• It's sold before you close. The settlement statement from the sale documents it, and the proceeds can be your down payment.
• It's under contract. On conventional loans, the payment can be left out if you provide the signed sales contract and confirmation that the buyer's financing contingencies have been cleared.
• You're keeping it as a rental. Rent can help offset the payment, within limits. On conventional loans, a new rule that becomes mandatory for applications from December 1, 2026 uses 75% of documented market rent instead of a lease, and the rent can only offset that home's own payment, not add to your income. FHA is stricter and generally allows it only if you're relocating more than 100 miles away and have at least 25% equity in the home you're leaving.

If none of these fits, you'll need to qualify carrying both payments. A contract contingent on selling your home, or a bridge loan, are other routes; each has trade-offs worth talking through with your loan officer and agent.

Go deeper: Selling to buy your next home covers which to do first, ways to reach your equity in time, and lining up two closings.

Rental income from a home you're buying

On a 2-4 unit home you'll live in, rent from the other units can help you qualify. Lenders use 75% of the rent, based on the appraiser's rent schedule or existing leases. On conventional loans, if you have less than 12 months of landlord experience, that rent can only offset the new payment rather than count as extra income, and your current housing payment must be documented. On FHA loans for 3-4 unit homes, the property must also pass a "self-sufficiency" test: the rent from all units, after a vacancy deduction of at least 25%, has to cover the full mortgage payment.