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Types of Documents to Refinance Your Home

Written by Banks Editorial Team

Updated October 23, 2024​

3 min. read​

If you are looking to take out a new mortgage on your home, some documents to refinance you will need are pay stubs, W-2 or 1099 statements, tax returns, title insurance and homeowners’ insurance documents, and statements of assets and debts.

Home refinancing is the process by which a new mortgage is taken out on a house to replace an existing one so that the borrower can benefit from lower costs and fees. Although advantageous, refinancing your home can be a daunting process, and it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the steps involved in a proper, effective refinancing plan. One overwhelming aspect of home refinancing is all the documents involved in the process. In order to make the refinancing process go smoothly, there are certain documents that you will need to have prepared. Below, you will find a list of the required documents to refinance your home.

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Types of Documents to Refinance

Proof of Income

First, you will need some pieces of document that show proof of income. Your new lender will need this to ensure that you are financially capable of paying off the new loan that you are about to acquire, along with other debts and everyday living expenses. Therefore, it is important that you get proof-of-income documents together if you are considering a refinance. Naturally, pay stubs are the most easily accessible and most common type of proof of income. As a result, lenders usually require borrowers to provide their two or three most recent pay stubs. If there is a co-borrower, perhaps a spouse or a partner, that person will be required to produce pay stubs as well. Self-employed persons will also need to provide proof of income — in most cases, statements that outline profits and losses. It’s possible that the lender will require that these profit-and-loss statements are verified and signed by an accountant.

To further verify income, you will need to have about two years’ worth of W-2 statements prepared. If you are self-employed or work on a contractual basis, you will instead be required to submit about two years’ worth of 1099-MISC forms. All employed persons will also be required to submit copies of their two most recent federal income tax returns. It will also be helpful to have a list prepared that details the employers you have had or the places you have worked over the past two years.

If you haven’t yet chosen the lender that best fits your income, it’s advisable to do this sooner than later to start getting together the documents to refinance your home.

Insurance

In addition to proof of income, other documents for refinancing that you will need include homeowners insurance documents and title insurance documents. If you are refinancing, that means you’ve already bought a home, so it should not be difficult for you to find your title insurance. You only need to keep it in a safe place until your lender asks you to provide it. However, you must also ensure that you have appropriate homeowners’ insurance. Each lender has different requirements for homeowners insurance, so you must confirm with your lender beforehand what type of insurance is required and ensure that you have that coverage. However, a general guide is that your insurance should be enough to completely rebuild your home if it should be destroyed. So, find out what your lender’s insurance requirements are, and get these documents for refinancing ready beforehand.

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Statements

The two final sets of documents that you will need are statements of assets and statements of debts. First, let’s look at statements of assets. Your lender will want to verify that you will be able to make early mortgage payments and cover the closing costs associated with refinancing. So, you will need to prepare statements for all of your bank accounts, going back about three months, statements of the stocks and bonds you own, and statements of all your other investment statements, such as mutual funds. You will also need to prepare a list of all the properties that you own.

With regard to debts, the lender will also need to get information on all your other financial obligations. You will need to provide credit card statements, your mortgage statement, statements that cover existing loans (student loans, car loans, etc.), and 401k account information.

Conclusion

To wrap up, there are quite a few documents for refinancing that your lender will require. These include proof of income through pay stubs and tax returns, W-2 or 1099 statements, homeowners’ and title insurance, statements of assets, and statements of debts. Although it’s advisable to start getting these documents together as soon as possible, it’s also best to figure out your lender’s exact documentation requirements to the process can go smoothly. So, the sooner you identify the right lender for you, the more quickly you can confidently put together all the documents you need.

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