Have you been thinking of purchasing a home? Has the task seemed daunting, not attainable or too scary? We are always here to help you when you need it!
Here are a few tips to help you prepare for this big financial and life move.
1) Plan ahead.
Meet with a Mortgage Professional to find out where you stand compared to current lending guidelines. We will check your credit standing, assets and overall affordability. Our no cost ‘Homeownership Strategy and Coaching Session’ can help you on the road to purchasing a home. Mortgage lending guidelines don’t always make logical sense, so it is very important to make sure you are on the right track before you find your perfect home! If you don’t currently meet the guidelines, your Mortgage Advisor can help you make a step by step plan to get where you want to go. Next all you have to do is execute!
2) Be realistic.
Sit down and look at your cash inflows and outflows on a monthly basis. Determine a comfortable monthly mortgage payment including taxes, insurance and any PMI (private mortgage insurance) and then proceed from there to find out what that means in terms of a purchase price. Our job as mortgage advisors is to set you up for success, but real success comes from knowing what will work for you!
3) Determine your priorities.
Qualifying for a mortgage can be difficult. We take a close look at your current financial scenario to see where you might be able to make some changes. If your debt to income ratio is too high, we will take a look at your current monthly debts and advise you as to what needs to be paid down to make the numbers work.
- Can you reduce credit card spending and pay down your cards?
- Do you have a high car loan payment that can be restructured or reduced via trade?
- Is your bank account balance too low? Are you not sure where your money has gone? Print out your last month of bank statements and add up the totals in the following categories: Housing, Food at home, Food out at restaurant, Entertainment, Gifts, Savings/Investments, Clothing/Accessories, Other spending. Look at the totals from the last month and ask yourself if your spending aligns with your goals. If not, make a budget and stick to it. A great tool for this is Mint.com. This completely free tool helps you make goals and budgets and stick to them!
4) Ask.
If you need help ask for it. We all need help at one time or another and many people are happy to help you out!
We believe homeownership is valuable for our community and economy. We are here to help you make your next move.
