Owning a Home for the First Time
As mortgage rates continue to drop, it’s time to get off the fence and buy your first home. If you’ve never owned a home before, the process can seem daunting, but this guide will help you with the steps for owning a home for the first time.
Owning a Home: Get Your Credit Report Straight
If you want to buy a house, this is the most important step. It really pushes everything you’re going to do. If you have great credit and have saved a ton of money, great, move on to the next step. However, if your credit isn’t good and you have no savings, you need to listen up.
Start working on your finances by establishing a plan. You are going to both save money and pay bills, so get ready to budget.
Your plan should include pulling your credit. You can get one free copy of your credit report https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports every year form each of the 3 nationwide credit reporting agencies by visiting annualcreditreport.com http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
These reports from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian give you a good look at the work you need to accomplish in getting your credit to a place to buy a home. It will have information on where you currently live, how you pay your bills, and if you have been sued or filed for bankruptcy, and is a snapshot for banks and mortgage companies to help assess your credit worthiness.
Check these over CAREFULLY. If there are any negative items on there that are not legitimate, dispute them. If there are negative items on there that are legitimate, pay them off. Get those reports sparkling.
Get Started Saving
Next, start to save some money. Put something aside from each paycheck or every other paycheck, depending on how your finances look. Open a savings account if necessary to put the money somewhere you won’t think about it.
You’re going to want to have your down payment, plus at least six months-worth of cash for emergencies. This shows lenders that you are trustworthy and responsible, and that you will be able to repay this loan.
The down payment will vary depending on the loan type that you go with. If you are a veteran or live in a rural area, you can get a no-down-payment loan with VA or USDA loans. If you are not, you can get an FHA loan with as little as 3.5% down, or a conventional loan that requires 20% down, but has no PMI in the loan. PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance, and you have to pay that on most loans without at least a 20% down payment.
If you follow these steps, you can qualify for the amazing low rates that we are getting for borrowers right now.
Owning a Home: Get Pre-Approved
OK, now it’s time to get to work. Getting pre-approved is a huge step towards owning a house. This is essentially setting the budget for your purchase, and getting yourself in a great place to make an offer. If you aren’t pre-approved, you can’t put down a serious offer on a home, and you’ll lose out on the house that you want in a crowded market like we currently have.
A pre-approval is something that you can have in your pocket the same day that you call in or apply online if you’re ready for us to run your credit and have your paperwork ready.
Make an Offer
After pre-approval, it’s time to make an offer! An offer with a pre-approval behind it is considered more serious, and now you can beat some of those other shoppers to the punch. Once your offer is accepted, then it’s time to actually get this thing funded, and the part where we shine!
Even with other lenders having issues closing in 60-90 days, we are still closing loans in 30 days for borrowers that are communicative and motivated, and we are ready to do the same for you.
Call The Home Loan Expert Team at 800-991-6494. You can always apply online at hero.loan for your VA Loan, and www.thehomeloanexpert.com for your other mortgage needs, and we’re also open on Saturdays and will come to you to help close your loan. We work hard to make it easy on you. Nobody gets lower rates on better loans than The Home Loan Expert, Ryan Kelley, why go anywhere else?
The Home Loan Expert
