When you refer a client, they enter our process. Here is what they hear from us, in what order, with what framing. So your messaging and ours align.
From application to funding, your buyer moves through five named milestones. You see the same updates they do, so you can plan around real progress, not estimated dates.
Buyer's file enters the studio. Initial review, document checklist, credit pull.
Income, assets, credit verified. Your buyer can write offers with confidence.
Property identified, file updated, appraisal ordered. Earnest money secured.
Underwriting cleared with remaining conditions. We work the list to closing.
All conditions met. Closing scheduled, your buyer is ready to fund.
You're handing your buyer off to a lender. They're going to spend two to six weeks moving through a process they've never seen before. Here's what we tell them, so you know our messaging aligns with yours.
The buyer wants three things from a lender: a clear path, confidence that nothing is hidden, and someone who picks up the phone. The studio is built around those three things. The process the buyer moves through is the result.
Every buyer moves through the same four stages. We name them. They know where they are.
The questions every buyer asks. Useful for you to know how we frame the answers, so we're aligned when the buyer asks you the same things.
Not the right first question. The right first question is: what monthly payment fits your life with reasonable margin? Once we know that, we work backward to the loan amount, then forward to the purchase price the buyer can target. The pre-approval letter reflects what they can afford structurally, not what they should spend.
It depends. 20% avoids PMI and lowers monthly payment. Less than 20% lets the buyer keep more cash for reserves and emergencies. We run the math on multiple scenarios so the buyer chooses based on their actual situation, not a rule of thumb.
Prequalification is "based on what you told me, you might qualify for X." Pre-approval is "I've verified your income with documents, your assets with statements, pulled your credit, and run you against the program guidelines. You qualify for X." The first is a guess. The second is work.
Generally after a contract is ratified, sometimes earlier if the buyer wants to lock before finding a property. Lock periods range 30-60 days typically. Float-down options sometimes available. We tell the buyer what's available and the trade-offs.
Private Mortgage Insurance, required when down payment is below 20% on conventional loans. Cost varies by credit, LTV, loan size. Can be removed when LTV reaches 78% based on original value, or 80% based on appraised value with formal request. For FHA, mortgage insurance (MIP) often stays for the life of the loan, which makes refinancing later sometimes attractive.
We hear from you or your agent within 24 hours. We send the buyer the disclosure package (LE, intent to proceed, fees), update the file with the property, order the appraisal, and lock the rate per the buyer's instructions. The buyer signs the disclosures within 10 days. The clock to closing starts.
Every file moves at its own pace, set by the specific shape of the buyer's situation. Rather than promising day counts we cannot keep, here is what actually drives how quickly each phase clears.
| Phase | What gates this phase |
|---|---|
| Application to pre-approval | How quickly the buyer returns income and asset documents. Responsive buyers clear this phase fast. The studio does not slow this phase down; the borrower's document availability does. |
| Contract to conditional approval | Appraisal turnaround, usually the gating item. We order the appraisal the same day the contract is ratified. Conditional approval is the milestone that signals the file is on track to close. |
| Conditional to clear to close | How complex the conditions are. Straightforward files clear quickly. Complex files (gift funds, employment changes, additional verifications) take more touches. We work conditions actively, not at the close-date deadline. |
| Clear to close to funding | The federally-mandated TRID three-day waiting period after Final Closing Disclosure delivery. We send the CD as soon as the file clears, so the three-day clock starts immediately. |
| Full transaction | Combination of the above, plus any market-specific factors (CA county recording timelines, supplemental property tax requirements, HOA condo questionnaire turnaround). We close faster than market averages on clean files. |
Working with the studio means working with Geoffrey. Phone goes to a phone. Email goes to an inbox that gets read. The file is worked by the same loan officer from application to closing.
