Isn’t it time to get your own home?
History shows that owning your own home can really pay off in the long run. In fact, most financial planners agree that homeownership is a cornerstone to building long term wealth.
With a little preparation and planning, I know you will be able to set some realistic expectations to insure that things go smoothly.
So, where is the best place to start?
Let’s agree that it makes most sense to start with affordability. After all, letting ourselves fall in love with something we cannot afford usually leads to disappointment.
Since this article is about how to buy a house, let’s focus on what you can do to determine exactly what is affordable to you.
After 24 years of working with home buyers, I can tell you that these are by far the two most common and important questions they ask me:
– “How much do I need to put down?”
– “How much will my payments be?”
Sure, everyone wants to know all of the details of the transaction, but we have to get these two parts of the equation right for you to be happy.
So let’s get started.
Unless you are planning on paying all cash for a property, it’s a good idea to figure out what loan programs you will qualify for.
I know it’s more fun to look at houses than it is to look around for the right financing, but if you make sure you will get a good loan upfront, the home buying process is much less stressful.
Don’t make the mistake that a lot of first time home buyers make, which is assuming you will qualify for a loan.
All mortgage lenders have guidelines that they must follow in order to approve your home loan. Your loan application must meet the qualifying guidelines in these five main areas:
- Credit History – credit rating and credit scores
- Employment History – length and stability
- Income – amount and relation to your total debts
- Savings/Assets – amounts needed for down payment, closing costs and reserves
- Collateral – actual property – it’s value, condition and marketability
Did you notice that four of the five are related to you and your ability to qualify? The last one, collateral is about the property’s acceptability to the lender.
Since four of these five qualifying factors have nothing to do with any specific property, doesn’t it make sense to make sure you qualify in these areas before making an offer on a specific property?
Our Mortgage Pre Approval Program will allow you to do just that. In just 24 hours, we can complete a home loan Pre-Approval for you.
A lot of lenders don’t offer a Pre Approval Program. They prefer to only provide approvals once home buyers are under contract and in escrow. We have been running our Pre-Approval program for home buyers since 1991.
Our Pre Approval program will allow you to greatly reduce the risk of not qualifying for the home loan once you have a property in escrow. In fact, over 95% of the Pre-Approvals we issue close once in escrow!
With your Pre Approval, you will know what you can afford, how much cash you need to close and what your payments will be. Best of all, you will be confident in your ability to close the transaction.
And honestly, in today’s market, if you want to be taken seriously by Sellers and Realtors, you need a solid Pre Approval.
With your Pre-Approval, the best Realtors who are local market experts will be happy to work with you and guide you through the home buying process.
Let’s recap…you find out exactly how much you can afford, how much cash you will need, what your monthly payments will be AND eliminate most of the risk of qualifying once you are in escrow with a Pre-Approval.
It only takes a few minutes to get started and there is no charge to get Pre-Approved.
So what are you waiting for?
Posted by: Brian Bush
Brian and his team have funded thousands of Home Loans since 1991.
You can reach Brian at 800-607-1941 x220 or bbush@slglends.com
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