The process
Eight phases. Zero mysteries.
Most of the stress in a mortgage is not knowing what happens next. Here is what happens next — all of it — and how long each part usually takes.
The conversation
Day 0Text or call. Oliver asks what you’re trying to do — buy, build, refinance, invest — and what a good outcome looks like for you. No application yet, no credit pull, no pressure.
Pre-approval
24–48 hoursA short application on Fairway’s secure portal, a credit review, and a few documents (pay stubs, W-2s, bank statements). You get a real, underwriter-backed number and a pre-approval letter you can shop with.
House hunting
Your paceYou and your agent shop within the number. Oliver stays on call for “what would this one look like?” texts — every address gets a real payment estimate, not a guess.
Offer & contract
When you find itBefore you write, Oliver runs the payment on the actual property and talks strategy with your agent. After you’re accepted, the purchase agreement comes to the team and the file opens.
Processing & appraisal
Week 1–2The production team builds the file the way underwriting will read it, orders the appraisal, and locks your rate when you say go. You’ll know what’s happening because they’ll tell you.
Underwriting
Week 2–3An underwriter reviews everything. Conditions come back; the team clears them, usually the same day. This is where reps matter — a team that’s seen 6,000 files knows what the next question will be.
Clear to close
Week 3–4Final approval. You get the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing, and Oliver walks you through every number on it.
Closing day
KeysSign, fund, keys. Then the part the record doesn’t show: the team is still your team — for the next house, the refinance, or a question five years from now.
Timelines are typical, not guaranteed — appraisal scheduling, property type and how quickly documents come in all move them. Purchase contracts set the actual closing date.
Communication
You’ll never wonder where your loan is.
Every milestone — application received, appraisal ordered, appraisal back, conditions cleared, clear to close — comes to you when it happens, from a person, not a portal notification you have to decode.
Your agent gets the same updates, so nobody is guessing and nobody is chasing.
Step one is a text.
Tell Oliver what you’re trying to do. Everything after that is the list above, in order, with a real person at every step.