Whether you’ve gone through it before or not, getting a mortgage loan can be a daunting task for anyone. But that’s why we’re here to make the process as easy and convenient as possible. Besides, between packing, hockey practice, making meals, homework, picking paint colors for the new kitchen and planning a surprise birthday party; the last thing you should be doing is worrying about your mortgage loan.
We’ve broken the process down into 5 simple steps to help you fully understand the process.

Here, you’ll want to figure out two things. The first, is simply how much do you want your monthly payment to be. To help you answer this question, we’ve provided some easy calculators on this website that can help you get a rough idea of what you can afford each month and what loan amount will give you that monthly payment.

The second thing you’ll want to determine are your goals for your home loan. Is this your first time buying a home? How much do you think you will have for a down payment? How long do you plan on staying in the home? 5 years or 20?

Thinking about your goals up front will help us find just the right loan product for your needs. And don’t worry if you don’t have all the answers just yet. We’ll be happy to walk you through a few different scenarios and help you determine what product types will be the best fit for you.

Before you start looking for your home, you’ll want to at least get pre-qualified. This step involves answering a few questions regarding your current savings, income and debt and can usually be completed over the phone in just a couple minutes. Taking this step will give you a general idea of what you may qualify for and will help you:

1. Focus your search on properties within your range
2.  Have more negotiating power with sellers (They know you’re serious and ready to buy)

Getting pre-approved involves a little more paperwork, but can give you even more buying power with sellers. Also, by getting pre-approved before you start looking for a home, you’ll find your loan can close even quicker as much of the paperwork will be done already.
(click here to learn more about the difference between pre-qualified and pre-approved)

Whether you’re pre-qualified or pre-approved, you’ll receive a letter from us stating your qualified/approved amount which you and your real estate professional can use to negotiate with sellers to ensure you make the best offer possible.

Give us a call today to get pre-qualified or pre-approved. After that, you’re ready to hit the road and start searching for that perfect home. Meanwhile, we’ll be working on finding the perfect loan program to meet all your needs.

Congratulations! You’ve found a home, made an offer and it was accepted. It’s time to fill out your loan application. Don’t worry…at CrossCountry Mortgage, Inc., our online makes the application process fast, secure and available when its convenient for you!

Our online application is available to you 24/7 and helps to streamline the process for you. Simply use the link below to start your application. When you’re done, you’ll receive an email confirmation that your application was successfully submitted.

Of course if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call!

Once your loan application is received, our team kicks into high gear working towards getting your loan approved allowing you the time to start making arrangements for the move, picking new paint colors and keeping up with your daily life.

Your personal Loan Processor will start the approval process by reviewing your application and verifying all the information you provided. You will be contacted and asked to provide additional documentation if you have not done so earlier in the process that verifies information such as income, employment history, etc.

We will also be ordering your credit report and appraisal for the property you have chosen. Basically, the loan processing and approval process is us doing what we do best to get your loan approved.

To help ensure your chances of a quick loan approval, you should:

Make sure you fill out the loan application completely. Our online application makes this a snap!
Respond quickly to any requests for additional documentation.
Not make any major purchases until your loan is closed as they might have an adverse effect on your loan approval due to your debt increasing.
Try to avoid going out of town near the closing date in case unforeseen circumstances cause you to be delayed in getting back such as a storm or flight delays.
Avoid moving money into or out of your bank accounts without a paper trail.

Your loan is approved and your so close to getting your new home! At this point, we work together with your team of real estate professionals including your realty agent, the sellers agent and the title/escrow companies to ensure all the paperwork needed to complete the transaction is prepared and in order. All you have to do is sign the documents.

You’ll get together with your escrow agent to sign all your loan documents and pay for any remaining closing costs including the down payment. Once this is done, your loan typically funds in 24-48 hours and the keys are yours!
(click here for more information about the closing process)

So even though there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle, as your mortgage experts, we do most of the work to help make the whole process an exciting, stress-free and enjoyable experience for you…just as it should be.

Welcome home.

• There are 55 different algorithms that create your credit score.
• Mortgage/auto/credit cards- all have different algorithms or formulas to create the credit scores.
• Mortgage = biggest debt has the strictest algorithm to calculate your score.
• Credit Karma is typically different than what a lender sees.

• If balance is 50% over the limit it negatively affects your score.
• Ideally below 30 percent at all times.
• We have simulators that we can run and tell you that if you pay down a particular credit card this is what it projects as far as where your credit score would go to.
• It doesn’t matter if you have a $5,000 credit card or a $500 credit card. They are all weighted the same.

• Make your payments on time!
• Make your payments on time!
• Make your payments on time!
• Enough said.

• Installment debts, like cars, don’t have that big of an effect on your credit as long as you’re not late on that installment debt.
• After 12 months of on time payments, that’s when it actually helps out your score, but not as much as the credit cards

• One of the biggest mistakes is when people try to contact the collection agencies themselves.
• Collections may or may not be affecting your score- but when you contact them it reports a Recent Activity on a negative account and that will decrease your score.

• One of the biggest myths in our industry and that is having your credit pulled is a bad thing.
• People think a hard inquiry or “pull” will severely decrease your score.
• Our inquiry will only impact you by 3 points.
• Our FICO report will show things your consumer one won’t.

• We are mortgage professionals who look at thousands of credit reports every year.
• We can look at it instantly and give you proper advice or refer you to a reputable professional credit repair company if necessary.
• People often do more harm than good, like contacting old collections.

SO LET US HELP YOU PREPARE TO BUY A HOME- IT’S NEVER TOO SOON TO GET STARTED!

Put simply, homestead exemption itself entitles most homeowners to a deduction of $25,000 off of their property’s assessed value, which can result in several hundred dollars in tax savings.

Once you establish your right to a basic homestead exemption on your property, you may also qualify for additional homestead exemptions if you are over 65 years old or have a disability.  But perhaps most importantly, receipt of a homestead exemption means that, pursuant to the Save Our Homes Amendment to the Florida Constitution, the assessed value of your homestead property cannot increase more than 3% per year or the percent change in the Consumer Price Index.

File for your Homestead Exemption in the county where your home was purchased. Investment and Second Home Purchases are not eligible for Homestead Exemption, only Primary Residences.  The filing deadline is March 1st of the tax year for which the exemption is sought.

One document typically needed when filing for exemption is a copy of your Closing Disclosure that you received at your closing. If you need a copy of your closing statement, please contact CrossCountry Mortgage and we’d be happy to assist you.  There is some additional documentation required; however, each county requires different items, so please follow the link for the county where you purchased to find detailed instructions on what to bring.

• ORANGE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISERS
• SEMINOLE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISERS
• VOLUSIA COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISERS
• LAKE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISERS

POWER

• FPL
• OUC
• DUKE ENERGY

GAS

• TECO-PEOPLE’S GAS

WATER

• ORANGE COUNTY

• BRIGHTHOUSE
• AT&T U-VERSE

• ORANGE COUNTY OCPS
• ORANGE COUNTY FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
• SEMINOLE COUNTY
• SCHOOL RATINGS
• USPS MOVING NOTIFICATION

We are proud to offer the Florida Hometown Heroes Program to eligible community heroes! Learn more about this and other programs that we have to help our heroes become homeowners

Program Overview

Eligible Occupations

Eligible Homebuyer Education Course