Selling Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds

If you own stock, bonds or mutual funds and need cash to put towards a down payment on a new home, it might make sense to sell some of these assets. To find out how much cash you could have by selling, you need to check the most current statements. Most brokerage houses send these statements either monthly or quarterly.

If your lender wants you to document the value of these assets, make copies of the appropriate stock, bond or mutual fund statements. Then simply forward these copies to your lender.

If you don’t have a brokerage account and instead still have stock certificates, all you have to do is photocopy those certificates. Again, simply forward the copies to the mortgage lender. To prove that you have owned these certificates for a while, it’s also a good idea to forward copies of your income tax records to the lender.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you plan to sell stocks, bonds or mutual funds to cover your down payment. Most important is your lender’s need for verifiable documentation.

Again this is relatively easy as long as you make a copy of all transactional checks and other documents generated as part of the sale. Likewise, make a copy of the deposit slip that shows when and where the proceeds from the sale were deposited. Once you have copies of all pertinent documents, simply forward them to your lender.