Process
Home purchase basics
What to count on from your agent, your loan officer, and yourself.
Home purchase basics
Home buying
A purchase is a small team. Your real estate agent helps you find the property and negotiate. Your loan officer helps you choose a loan and keep the file on schedule. Title or escrow handles closing. You keep the file honest.
When those lanes blur (an agent promising a rate, a lender rewriting an offer), the calendar slips. Stay in your lane and insist everyone else does too.
01
Agents negotiate the contract. Loan officers originate the financing. Mixing those jobs creates delays.
02
Personal financial information stays with the lender. Deal status can be shared so the transaction stays aligned.
03
Inspectors tell you about the house. Appraisers tell the lender about value. Those are different reports.
04
You keep decisions and documents moving. That is the job nobody else can do for you.
Your real estate agent
Finds the house, writes and negotiates the contract, coordinates inspections and the other agent. They should know you have a real pre-approval. They should not be underwriting you.
Your loan officer
Matches a program to occupancy, cash, credit, and the property. Orders the pieces the lender needs. Tells you what is still open. Personal financials stay here.
From conversation to keys
The same six steps as the rest of the site, shortened.
01
Tell us what you’re looking for
A useful first conversation is short: what you want to do, where, and when. You do not need a perfect document stack to start. You do need an honest picture of income, debts, and how you want the payment to feel. Hancock routes you to a named loan officer rather than a generic inbox.
Next: Find a loan officer licensed in your state.
The other seats at the table
Inspectors work for you and tell you about the house. Appraisers work to a valuation standard the lender relies on. Title looks at ownership and liens. Insurance has to bind. None of those people is your loan officer.
If something is messy (a condo questionnaire, a well, a repair escrow), say it early. Late surprises are how closings move.
From this guide
Common questions
You can be introduced. The jobs are still separate. Financing decisions and disclosures belong with a licensed originator. Offers belong with the agent.
Lanes
Everyone has a job. Yours is the documents and the decisions.
A present officer and a clear agent beat a group text with no owner.
Ready when you are
The house is the point.
Whether you’re buying your first home, moving into your next one, refinancing, or exploring your options, we’re here to help you figure out the next step.