Today I am combining my blog post with my Tuesday tip because these tips needed to be in one place. The topic for today is the “do’s and don’ts” of home buying.
Every one has heard that you can do this and you can do that but before you do something in particular, talk to the lender. There are so many interesting stories that I can tell you about when it comes to real estate and why things happen. Here are a few do’s:
DO pay your bills on time. You are asking a lender to loan you thousands of dollars guaranteeing that you will pay them back. They only thing that is attesting to your payment history is your credit report.
DO know where you stand financially. Do you know you budget and how much you can really afford? Yes your total income may be $100K but when you include all debts, is it financially reasonably to purchase the home with a $2500 mortgage. Better yet, does your credit help those claims? Home buying is there for you to struggle to make the payment just to have an asset. Lenders look at the overall credit picture and you must look at your whole financial picture too. Do you have bills that you pay that doesn’t show on the credit report like cell phone bill, daycare costs, tithes, charitable contributions, etc?
Now on to the don’ts.
DON’T QUIT YOUR JOB. I know you really dislike Susie and the rest of the staff. Which one do you want more? The house or a new job? Just put a time limit on how long you can deal with Susie and the rest of the staff until you make your home purchase.
DON’T DEPOSIT YOUR MATTRESS MONEY. Yes, Grandma Jane still hides her savings under the mattress so you developed that habit. Now you have maybe $1,000 or 2 under the mattress. You need it for your down payment or closing costs. When purchasing a home, you need a paper trail. You won’t be able to be use these funds because there is no paper trail on where it came from. I’ve actually had a client do this. Thankfully we were able to get the seller to pay the closing costs he needed. But that’s an FYI. Start “seasoning” your money into an account months before purchasing your home. Plus, it may be safe to have it in an account instead of your home. That’s just my opinion though.
One of my trusted lender partners do a great job discussing the do’s and don’ts of buying a home. Check out the video below from Mortgage Express.
Now that you know what to do to get started, you can contact the lender to get started and be crowned a homeowner in your new home!
Your new avenue awaits you….let’s find it here. #CrowningHomeowners