After you apply for a mortgage, do not open new credit, change jobs, move money around, make large unexplained deposits, or co-sign for anyone until your loan funds. Lenders re-check credit, employment and assets shortly before closing, and a change that would not matter in normal life can delay or kill an approved loan.
The twelve mistakes
1. Financing furniture or appliances. The new account adds a payment to your ratio and a fresh inquiry. Buy the couch after you have keys.
2. Buying or leasing a car. The single most common closing killer I see. A new payment can push your debt-to-income over the limit in the last week. See Debt-to-Income Ratio Explained.
3. Opening or closing credit cards. Opening adds an inquiry and possibly a payment. Closing can lower your score by raising utilization.
4. Running up card balances. Higher balances mean higher minimum payments and a lower score if the lender pulls updated credit.
5. Changing jobs, or changing pay structure. Even a raise can create questions if you move from salary to commission or to a probationary period. If a change is unavoidable, tell your loan officer before you accept. See Changing Jobs and Getting a Mortgage.
6. Quitting to start a business. Self-employment usually needs a history before it can count.
7. Moving money between accounts. Every transfer becomes something to document. Leave your funds where the lender saw them.
8. Depositing cash. Cash cannot be sourced. If you are holding cash for closing, talk to your loan officer before it touches your account.
9. Accepting an undocumented gift. Family help is fine when documented correctly. See Down Payment Gift Funds Rules.
10. Co-signing someone else's loan. It becomes your debt for qualifying purposes.
11. Missing a payment on anything. A single late payment can change a score and the pricing tier.
12. Ignoring condition requests. Every day a condition sits is a day added to your closing. See Mortgage Conditions: How to Clear Them Fast.
Why lenders check again before closing
Your original approval was based on a snapshot. Before funding, lenders commonly re-verify employment, sometimes within days of closing, and may run a soft credit refresh or monitor for new accounts. If something changed, the loan has to be re-underwritten on the new facts. Sometimes it still works. Sometimes it does not. See Pre-Approved, Then Denied.
What you should do instead
- Keep paying everything on time, exactly as before.
- Keep your job and your pay structure.
- Leave your accounts alone.
- Answer your loan officer's requests the same day.
- Ask first. If you are unsure whether something matters, a two-minute call costs nothing. Finding out at the signing table costs the house.
Once the loan funds and records, go buy the furniture.
Why ask me
- I answer the question before I sell you anything. If renting, waiting or a different program is the better move, I will say so.
- Real numbers, not a calculator guess. I price your actual scenario, side by side, with the fees on the page.
- Every program under one roof. Conventional, FHA, VA, jumbo, and non-QM options like bank statement, DSCR and asset-based loans, so the program fits you instead of the other way around.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending, NMLS #173141, lending in Arizona since 1999 and a 2025 Presidents Club Winner at CMG Home Loans. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.
More plain-English answers in the Mortgage Education library.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Program guidelines, eligibility requirements and documentation standards vary by investor and change over time. Rates, terms and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. This is not legal or tax advice; consult a qualified professional about your own situation.
Find out which program actually costs you less
FHA, conventional and jumbo price the same borrower very differently once the mortgage insurance is compared across the years you will own the home. Tell me the shape of your file and I will run them side by side.
Looking at a specific home? Send me the address and I will run the numbers: rickykhamis.com/analyze
