More buyers in Oklahoma choose our bank for home loans. Why? Because the personal service we provide goes well beyond other lenders.

We also offer choices. From choosing a traditional mortgage or exploring special government or local home buying programs, just about anyone can find a way to finance their home in today’s diverse home buying market.

Buying a home is one of the most important purchases you'll make. Let us make it a little easier. Use the glossary to understand important terms. Discover a number of helpful tools at our Mortgage Web Center. And let us walk you step-by-step through the loan process, the decision to buy or build, and refinancing.

With our help, you can obtain the home of your dreams.

Learn more. Browse through these sections:

• The Home Loan Process

• Decide Whether to Buy or Build

• Know When to Refinance

Follow these easy steps to help make your home buying experience the best!

Every home buying situation is different but there are a few things that typically occur. The first step is filling out a loan application. This initial step will take some time because the application is a comprehensive look at your current finances. However, it's worth taking the time because the information you provide on this form will help determine the correct loan program for you.

You can download a printable copy of the Uniform Residential Loan Application by clicking here.

Once we have your application, we'll take a look at your credit history and determine the mortgage verification ratio. This means that the total cost of your possible mortgage payment is no more than 28 percent of your monthly gross income.

As a simple example, let's say your monthly gross income is $1,000. Your total mortgage payment should not exceed $280 per month. A mortgage payment is defined as principal, interest, taxes and insurance.

After that, we'll take a look at your total monthly credit obligations and make sure those, added to your mortgage payment, don't exceed 36 percent of your monthly gross income. The types of "monthly obligations" we're looking at are things like car payments, credit card debts, outstanding student loans, etc. Click here to try our qualification calculator.

By looking at these ratios, we can help you determine the maximum amount you should spend on a home. Often people go to a realtor or start looking for a home before going through this process, but find themselves disappointed when they find out they can't afford their "dream home."

We strongly recommend you start with a lender. Not only will you find out the maximum amount you can afford, you'll have a comprehensive listing of all the other costs involved in buying your home. These include a credit report, appraisal, title insurance, and recording fees to name a few. Lenders' interest rates are generally close and competitive but their other fees can vary widely. We’ll make sure you know up front how much everything will cost.

The final consideration is how much of a down payment you can make on your home. Some loan programs require no down payment but most traditional loans require some initial investment. Don't be frightened off by the thought of a 20 percent down payment. A 5 percent down payment has put many a new borrower into their dream home. It's really what you can afford and we'll work with you to determine what's appropriate.

Once your loan is approved, we'll work with you and your realtor to make the home buying process as easy as possible.

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Building your own home is a dream for many but often the prospect is too intimidating to take the first step. When you're thinking about building, your first step should be to talk with one of our construction lenders. By starting with the lender, who will finance your construction and eventually your home, you'll be sure your dream home is one you can afford. Plus, working with us from the start makes the whole building process go smoothly.

To help you decide if building is right for you, there are a few things we’ll need to know:

• How much do you want to spend on your new home?

• Have you thought about, or even chosen, a general contractor?

• If you've already spoken with a contractor, what is your cost estimate?

• How much cash are you ready to invest, or how much equity do you have in your current residence?

• Have you considered the type of permanent loan you'll want once your home is built?

Once you've had a chance to talk through these issues, it will be time to begin the loan process. The loan application gets you started. From that application we determine if you're qualified for the amount you want. If you are, your construction lender will talk with a real estate lender before approving your loan. That’s because your construction loan will eventually be replaced with a conventional mortgage. It's also important for the real estate lender to be familiar with you and your needs so the conversion process works smoothly.

For a step-by-step look at the home loan process, click here.

Once your loan is approved, the next step is an appraisal. For that, you'll need a cost estimate from a builder along with floor plans. If the appraisal fits into your already-determined maximum loan amount, you'll be ready to close your construction loan.

A construction loan is quite different from a conventional mortgage. Typically, it is for a short time period, usually six months, and the interest can be paid monthly or accrued until the home is finished. Most people who accrue the interest do so because they are selling their current home and will be placing a large amount of cash toward the newly constructed home.

Because keeping costs in line is critical to meeting your loan obligations, you'll receive a "draw sheet" to list all of your bills as they come in. As the draw sheets are submitted, funds are advanced into your checking account to pay the bills.

In addition, you should make sure all your checks for payment of construction work have a lien waiver stamp. This reduces the risk of liens being placed on your property by workers who claim not to have been paid.

Since the total loan amount is not given to you all at once, your interest is paid only on the amount of the loan you are currently using. Generally, this means your interest payments are low in the beginning of construction and increase as the loan amount in use increases.

Interest on a construction loan is determined by many factors. Certainly marketplace rates are important, but even more important is your debt-to-income ratio, past repayment history on debts, and your financial relationship with the lender.

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The "old rule of thumb" states that if your interest rate is more than two percent above the current interest rate, it's probably worth your time and money to refinance. But, like some "rules," this one should sometimes be broken.

Depending on the size of your loan, the term and type, it may be worth your while to investigate refinancing your loan. A good place to start is a phone call to us for a quick estimate of the cost of refinancing versus the benefits. See if you can recover the cost of the refinancing in one year. If you're planning on moving away or selling your home, refinancing is probably not a good idea no matter what the rate is.

If the prospects sound good, get a written estimate of all the costs involved. You may decide to switch from a variable rate loan to a fixed rate, or shorten the term of your fixed loan from 30 to 15 years. Or you may also decide to add a home equity loan to finally do those repairs you've been talking about. All of these decisions have an impact on refinancing costs, so it pays to find out what you can expect.

Typical refinancing costs include an appraisal, recording fees, a credit report, title insurance, and a flood determination. Our bank streamlines the process as much as possible to save you money.

Once you've decided refinancing is right for you, you can expect the process to take about 30 days. You can lock in the current rate or wait to see what the rate will be when it's time to close. Unfortunately, no one can predict whether the rates will go up or down in those 30 days. If you feel good about the current rate, go ahead and lock it in. If you're feeling lucky, you may want to wait.

Since you're working on your mortgage loan anyway, it's probably also a good time to think about your whole financial picture. If you're saving money on your mortgage payment, maybe that extra cash should be automatically transferred each month to a savings account. Or perhaps it's time to consider automatic loan payments from your checking account or a home equity line of credit.

Whatever you decide, talk with us about all your options for your mortgage loan and your other banking needs.

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