Home Loans

Looking to lower your Home or Auto Loan payments or getting ready to buy? How about saving for a major purchase or life event in the future? View our  calculators page to help you estimate your loan payments, compare loans, calculate savings, make informed mortgage decisions and more.

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At Mission Fed, our goal is to get you into the home of your dreams by helping you find the right mortgage for your needs with mortgage payments you can afford.

If you are a first-time homebuyer, we have information unique to you, including programs that you can benefit from, mistakes to avoid, and important items to consider when you begin your home buying journey.

A big part of the home buying process is determining how much you can afford. This may seem intimidating, but don’t worry — our home loan specialists are here to help. Your monthly expenses, down payment amount, and interest rate will all play a large part in figuring out how much you can comfortably spend each month on your mortgage with today’s mortgage rates. We will also provide a list of calculator resources in this guide that you can use to help determine your home buying power.

It’s a good idea to get preapproved before you start looking at homes. Many real estate agents require you to get preapproved before they’ll start showing you homes. Getting pre-approved will also give you a good idea of how much home you can afford. You can start the preapproval process as early as you want, but do be aware that the preapproval letter has an expiration date. Once you’ve chosen a home you love, you can begin the actual loan approval process — also called underwriting. You’ll provide a sales contract signed by you and the seller agreeing to a price and terms, and then the underwriting process can begin. You will get fast results from Mission Fed because our underwriting takes place in-house.

You’ll need to gather some important documents together to apply for a home and make the process as quick and easy as possible for you and the loan officer.

Here are some of the most commonly requested items:

• Paycheck stubs for at least the last 30 days
• W2s for the last two years
• Tax returns for the past two years for self-employed borrowers
• Bank statements for the last two months
• Retirement or dividend earnings statements
• Information about stocks or bonds
• Proof of 12 months on-time rent payments for renters
• Employment history for the last two years
• Photo ID

A home equity loan is an additional loan you take out on your primary residence based on the equity you’ve built over the time you’ve owned your home. When you know the amount you need to borrow, and prefer a reliable fixed rate to a variable rate, a home equity loan might be a good alternative to a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC).

HELOC stands for Home Equity Line of Credit, which is a line of credit you can take out on the equity you’ve built in your home. Essentially, a HELOC is a second mortgage, allowing you to borrow against the value of equity you currently have in your primary residence.

With a home equity line of credit, you can borrow up to a certain amount, repay the money you owe and then repeat as needed, allowing you to borrow only as much as you need, as you need it.

Most lenders require that you have at least 15 to 20 percent of your home’s appraised value in equity before approving a home equity line of credit. However, that percentage can vary depending on your credit history, credit score and debt-to-income ratio.