In our Metro Atlanta Real Estate News for February 2015:

Protect Your Metro Atlanta Mortgage Until It's Funded

Getting a Metro Atlanta mortgage does not just entail applying for the loan and getting an approval letter. There are still things that can go wrong, and you need to be aware of these so you don't find yourself out all the cash to get the loan, and still not get the funds you thought you were approved for.

Why Your Metro Atlanta Mortgage May Not Get Funding

You've gotten the call that your Metro Atlanta mortgage was approved, and your lender coordinates a closing date with you. You get the movers all lined up, you notify the utility companies to switch the untilites over to your name effective on your closing date, and you send out the change of address notices. Everything's all set to move in, until you get another call from your lender that says, your loan has fallen through.

There are no formal statistics on deals that are approved but then don't actually close. These 11th hour disapprovals happen more often than many people realize. What they also don't know is that losing the loan at the last moment is almost always preventable and possibly fixable.

The most common mistake people make after their loan has been approved but before it closes is taking out additional credit after the lender has reviewed your credit report. Buying furniture on credit after you've been approved, or new appliances for the house, are both big no-no's! If your income to debt ratio was close during the initial documentation review, taking on more debt might push you into a debt ratio the bank deems unacceptable.

The bottom line is — just don't do it. Wait until your deal has completely closed before taking on any new debt. Your normal purchase of gas and a night at the movies isn't likely to cause any problems. It's a major purchase or opening new accounts that will get your loan denied.

Another mistake that may or may not be repairable is changing jobs during the loan funding process. Lenders almost always verify your employment shortly before the loan is set to close. If anyone that submitted financial documentation for your loan is planning to changed employers or stop working, it's best to wait until after the loan closes.

One you will never recover from is if you submit fraudulent income statements. When getting a Metro Atlanta mortgage, there are no undocumented income statements. The lender will validate your income statement with the IRS or other taxing authority. What you submit to the lender must be exactly what you submitted to the IRS. Often the original loan approval is based on a contingency that your income be validated by the IRS.

Between the time you are initially approved for your Metro Atlanta mortgage and when the deal closes, try to keep everything the same regarding your financial situation.

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Metro Atlanta Mortgage Rates Up

Metro Atlanta mortgage rates ticked up this week for the first time in 2015 following positive home sales reports.

Freddie Mac says a 30-year fixed-rate Metro Atlanta mortgage averaged 3.66 percent this week, up from 3.63 percent last week. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 4.31 percent. The all-time low of 3.31 percent was set in November 2012.

A 15-year fix averaged 2.98 percent this week, up from 2.93 percent. A one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 2.38 percent.

New-home sales in December rose 11.6 percent, a better monthly gain than had been expected. Existing-home sales rose 2.4 percent in December.

A separate report from the National Association of Realtors said pending sales of existing homes, a more forward-looking gauge of housing market activity, fell in December, though contract signings remained above year-ago levels.

We'll continue to keep you updated here on any news that might affect Metro Atlanta mortgage rates, either up or down.