Definition of "Underwriting"

Underwriting is a term often used with financial connotation. It is a process that helps individuals or institutions to determine if it’s worth taking a financial risk in a particular situation in exchange for a fee. Most of the time, this risk involves loans, investments, or insurances. This process helps establish appropriate premiums to fairly cover the cost of insuring policyholders, set adequate borrowing rates for loans, and create a market for securities by accurately evaluating investment risks.

Underwriting in real estate

In real estate, underwriting works the same way, and it is the process of evaluating a loan application to determine the degree of risk involved. You may be wondering how the process of underwriting works? There are different mortgage loan types, but each lender uses the same underwriting process to determine the risk of a mortgage application. There are multiple ways a lender can determine that risk.

Most commonly, the underwriting will evaluate the financial standings of the borrower and the value of the property involved in the transaction. For a mortgage loan application to be approved, the lender needs to make sure that the borrower will be able to repay the loan, and in case of defaulting on the loan, the lender needs to ensure that the potential loss is recovered through the estate.

This is all achieved through the underwriting process, which will determine the viability of a deal. You can look at the underwriting process as the pre-approval process for a loan. For example, during the underwriting process, the lender might look up a borrower’s credit score to see if they have the minimum required credit for a home loan.

Underwriting is not only required by lenders, but real estate investors would benefit from learning the process to underwrite a deal themselves. In doing so, investors can make informed investment decisions to avoid losses, and it will help separate a bad investment from a good one.

 

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Capability of a party to enter into a contract such as having the financial and physical resources as well as mental competency to meet contractual commitments. ...

Repairing the street for safety and attractiveness. In some localities, such as on Long Island, the home owner is responsible for properly maintaining the street surrounding his home. ...

The appellant definition references a concept related to legal proceedings. The appellant is the individual who is dissatisfied with the judgment in a lawsuit and asks for a superior court ...

Ask Price is the initial listed price for a piece of real estate.It’s important to understand that, in the real estate world, there’s no such thing as a fixed price when buying ...

Claim by a real estate broker that his or her actions were the principal cause of the completion of a property sale between two parties. A successful procuring cause claim would entitle a ...

Property taken over by the government because the owner has failed to pay taxes on it. The property may revert back to the owner when the taxes are paid. If not, the government may sell the ...

An individual appointed by a court to manage the affairs and property of a legally incompetent party. The conservator has full decision-making authority over the affairs of the property in ...

A person has the option of canceling a contract previously agreed to. ...

Derogative term describing a high-pressure telemarketing office where sales personnel often use extremely exaggerated claims as well as intense sales practices to convince targets clients ...

Popular Real Estate Questions