To determine the value of the property you are purchasing or refinancing, an appraisal will be required. An appraisal report is a written description and estimate of the value of the property. National standards govern not only the format for the appraisal; they also specify the appraiser's qualifications and credentials. In addition, most states now have licensing requirements for appraisers evaluating properties located within their states.

The appraiser will create a written report for us and you'll be given a copy either prior to or at your loan closing.

You have a right to receive a copy of your appraisal in advance of your loan closing. In some cases you can waive that right and if you do, you will receive a copy of the appraisal at closing.  

First National Bank Bemidji does offer some programs for manufactured homes or mobile homes. There are certain requirements that need to be met. Your lender can help you determine what they are.

Interest rates fluctuate based on a variety of factors, including inflation, the pace of economic growth, and Federal Reserve policy. Over time, inflation has the largest influence on the level of interest rates. A modest rate of inflation will almost always lead to low interest rates, while concerns about rising inflation normally cause interest rates to increase. Our nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve, implements policies designed to keep inflation and interest rates relatively low and stable.

An adjustable rate mortgage, or an "ARM" as they are commonly called, is a loan type that offers a lower initial interest rate than most fixed rate loans. The trade off is that the interest rate can change periodically, usually in relation to an index, and the monthly payment will go up or down accordingly.

Against the advantage of the lower payment at the beginning of the loan, you should weigh the risk that an increase in interest rates would lead to higher monthly payments in the future. It's a trade-off. You get a lower rate with an ARM in exchange for assuming more risk.

Mortgage interest rate movements are as hard to predict as the stock market and no one can really know for certain whether they'll go up or down.

You can discuss the current interest rate environment with your loan officer.

There's no cost at all for completing our application. After your loan is approved and you express your intent to proceed, you may be requested to make a deposit to cover the appraisal fee.

None of the loan programs we offer have penalties for prepayment. You can pay off your mortgage any time with no additional charges.

The interest rate market is subject to movements without advance notice. Locking in a rate protects you from the time that your lock is confirmed to the day that your lock period expires.

A home loan often involves many fees, such as the appraisal fee, title charges, closing fees, and state or local taxes. These fees vary from state to state and also from lender to lender. The estimated fees are grouped below.

Third Party Fees

Fees that we consider third party fees include the appraisal fee, the credit report fee, the settlement or closing fee, the survey fee, tax service fees, title insurance fees, flood certification fees, and courier/mailing fees.

Third party fees are fees that we'll collect and pass on to the person who actually performed the service. For example, an appraiser is paid the appraisal fee, a credit bureau is paid the credit report fee, and a title company or an attorney is paid the title insurance fees.


Taxes and other fees

Fees that we consider to be taxes and other feels include state/local taxes and recording fees. These fees will most likely have to be paid regardless of the lender you choose.

Lender Fees

Fees such as discount points, document preparation fees, and loan processing fees are retained by the lender and are used to provide you with the lowest rates possible.


Required Advances

You may be asked to prepay some items at closing that will actually be due in the future. These fees are sometimes referred to as prepaid items.

Prepaid items generally are county property taxes, upfront interest, homeowners insurance, and if applicable, mortgage insurance. 

If an escrow account will be established, you will make an initial deposit into the escrow account at closing so that sufficient funds are available to pay the bills when they become due.

The function of a title insurance company is to make sure your rights and interests to the property are clear, that transfer of title takes place efficiently and correctly, and that your interests as a homebuyer are fully protected.

Title insurance companies provide services to buyers, sellers, real estate developers, builders, mortgage lenders, and others who have an interest in real estate transfer. Title companies typically issue two types of title policies:

1) Owner's Policy. This policy covers you, the homebuyer.

2) Lender's Policy. This policy covers the lending institution over the life of the loan.


Before issuing a policy, the title company performs an in-depth search of the public records to determine if anyone other than you has an interest in the property. After a thorough examination of the records, any title problems are usually found and can be cleared up prior to your purchase of the property..

Your loan officer can discuss title insurance more in depth with you.

Mortgage insurance makes it possible for you to buy a home with less than a 20% down payment by protecting the lender against the additional risk associated with low down payment lending. Low down payment mortgages are becoming more and more popular, and by purchasing mortgage insurance, lenders are comfortable with down payments as low as 3 - 5% of the home's value.

The mortgage insurance premium is based on loan to value ratio, type of loan, and amount of coverage required by the lender. Usually, the premium is included in your monthly payment and one to two months of the premium is collected as a required advance at closing.

It may be possible to cancel private mortgage insurance at some point, such as when your loan balance is reduced to a certain amount.   Recent Federal Legislation requires automatic termination of mortgage insurance for many borrowers when their loan balance has been amortized down to 78% of the original property value. If you have any questions about when your mortgage insurance could be cancelled, please contact your Loan Officer.

The maximum percentage of your home's value depends on the purpose of your loan, how you use the property, and the loan type you choose, so the best way to determine what loan amount we can offer is to complete our online application!

VA loans are loans guaranteed and administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and are offered as a benefit to qualified individuals who have served in the armed forces. The significant advantage of a VA loan is that a down payment is not required. If you are a qualified veteran and wish to purchase a home with little or no down payment, a VA loan may be your best bet.

Your loan officer will discuss all options with you.

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An abundance of credit inquiries can sometimes affect your credit scores since it may indicate that your use of credit is increasing. 

The data used to calculate your credit score doesn't include any mortgage or auto loan credit inquiries that are made within the 30 days prior to the score being calculated. In addition, all mortgage inquiries made in any 14-day period are always considered one inquiry.

There is no charge to you for the credit information we'll access with your permission to evaluate your application online. You will only be charged for a credit report if you decide to complete the application process after your loan is approved.

Generally, the income of self-employed borrowers is verified by obtaining copies of personal (and business, if applicable) federal tax returns for the most recent two-year period.

We'll review and average the net income from self-employment that's reported on your tax returns to determine the income that can be used to qualify. We won't be able to consider any income that hasn't been reported as such on your tax returns. Typically, we'll need at least one, and sometimes a full two-year history of self-employment to verify that your self-employment income is stable.

We will ask for information on your pension income such as a benefits letter and evidence pension has been received by providing  recent pension check stubs or bank statement showing the amount is directly deposited into your account.  

If you are receiving social security earnings, we will ask for your awards letter and evidence the social security income has been received, usually a bank statement showing direct deposit.

Yes, applying for a mortgage loan before you find a home may be the best thing you could do! If you apply for your mortgage now, we'll issue an approval subject to you finding the perfect home. Once we review and approve your application we can issue a pre-qualification letter to you. You can use the pre-qualification letter to assure real estate brokers and sellers that you are a qualified buyer. Having a pre-qualification for a mortgage may give more weight to any offer to purchase that you make.

Information about child support, alimony, or separate maintenance income does not need to be provided unless you wish to have it considered for repaying this mortgage loan.

Typically, income from a second job will be considered if a one-year history of secondary employment can be verified.

First, you'll complete our online application!

The application will ask you questions about the home and your finances and takes less than 20 minutes to complete. As soon as you've finished and submitted the application it will be received by a loan officer who will review your request.

A Loan Officer will contact you to introduce himself or herself and to answer any questions you may have. Your Loan Officer is a mortgage expert and will provide help and guidance along the way. They will set up a time for you to come to the bank to complete the application process. The loan officer will request you bring in certain items such as: 

• W-2's
• Current Paystubs
• Tax Returns
• Current Bank Statements

This is not an inclusive list, your loan officer may ask for additional information that pertains to your personal situation.  

Once this process is done we handle it from there. We will order an appraisal and title work. Throughout the process your loan officer will contact you if any additional items are needed or to update you on the progress of your loan application.

Once your loan is approved and all required information is obtained, they will schedule the loan closing where you will sign your final loan documents.

If you were in school before your current job, enter the name of the school you attended and the length of time you were in school in the "length of employment" fields. You can enter a position of "student" and income of "0."

Generally, a co-signed debt is considered when determining your qualifications for a mortgage. If the co-signed debt doesn't affect your ability to obtain a new mortgage we'll leave it at that. However, if it does make a difference, we can ignore the monthly payment of the co-signed debt if you can provide verification that the other person responsible for the debt has made the required payments, by obtaining copies of their cancelled checks for the last twelve months.

An installment debt is a loan that you make payments on, such as an auto loan, a student loan or a debt consolidation loan. Do not include payments on other living expenses, such as insurance costs or medical bill payments. We'll include any installment debts that have more than 10 months remaining when determining your qualifications for this mortgage.

Revolving debt is generally credit card debt. We use the minimum amount due on your credit card statement for qualification purposes.

Other types of revolving debt may be home equity lines of credit.

Your loan officer will be in attendance. If you are doing a refinance transaction, your loan officer will go handle the closing process with you.

If you are purchasing a home, a designated title agent will handle the closing. On purchase transactions, your Realtor also attends the final closing.

Your closing will take place at First National Bank Bemidji.