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Replies (12)
- Sharon Lewis, "Sharon Lewis"
- Contributions:3916
Talk to a mortgage lender and see if you can qualify to purchase a home, be upfront, don't hide anything, if you have debts, let them know. We see people who get 'prequalified' to buy a house and then when they go to purchase, they find out they cant because they didnt fully disclose. You not only waste your time, but that of the mortgage lender and the agent and the home seller.
Good luck to you, hope you do get to purchase!
Good luck to you, hope you do get to purchase!
- B Mike West
- Contributions:240
Contact a local loan officer and discuss your specific situation. They will have to run your credit. They wil also have to know if you have any money to use as a down payment and to cover closing costs (usually about 3% of your loan amount).
Make sure that you are paying all yoru bills on time and don't make any major purchases during this process.
Good Luck
Make sure that you are paying all yoru bills on time and don't make any major purchases during this process.
Good Luck
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25127
If you have no credit history, it might be difficult for you to buy. Lenders want to see that you are responsible with credit and they also want to see that you know how to handle your money/bills.
The best thing to do is collect the information that a lender will need to see before you talk to them about your goals. There are some tips on documentation for getting preapproved for a mortgage here. You can also look into building a better credit score. there are tips on building credit here and here. Look at your budget and see how much you can afford. What you qualify for may be higher than what you can comfortably afford so make sure that you stay within your comfort zone.
The best thing to do is collect the information that a lender will need to see before you talk to them about your goals. There are some tips on documentation for getting preapproved for a mortgage here. You can also look into building a better credit score. there are tips on building credit here and here. Look at your budget and see how much you can afford. What you qualify for may be higher than what you can comfortably afford so make sure that you stay within your comfort zone.
- Christopher Neal, "ChristopheratFML"
- Contributions:9
These are not good but great advice. You really want to know where you stand in qualifying. I would also suggest that you find a Real Estate professional (like myself) that works with investors will to do Seller carry backs, Leases options and other type of financing. These can be complicated so choose your Agent with care. ( you can contact me and I can give you he questions to ask the potential agent) This is a good time to purchase a property. But the conventional forms of financing may not help you much. If your really interested in purchasing a home of your own. You will have to look into a non traditional window.
Happy hunting.
Happy hunting.
- Mike Caruso, "Michael D. Caruso"
- Contributions:4
Martin,
One other very important point is to make sure you pay your bills on time and do not take out any new credit while you are in the process of preparing, or buying a home. I know of a buyer that purchased $5,000 in furniture a week before closing on a home. This purchased increased his debt to income ratios and when the lender re-ran his credit prior to close of escrow, he could not qualify and lost the house.
One of my buyers missed a payment to a utility company. This dropped his score 25 points. It caused a problem for his loan and delayed closing by a couple weeks.
Mike
One other very important point is to make sure you pay your bills on time and do not take out any new credit while you are in the process of preparing, or buying a home. I know of a buyer that purchased $5,000 in furniture a week before closing on a home. This purchased increased his debt to income ratios and when the lender re-ran his credit prior to close of escrow, he could not qualify and lost the house.
One of my buyers missed a payment to a utility company. This dropped his score 25 points. It caused a problem for his loan and delayed closing by a couple weeks.
Mike
- Rachel Jene, "RJene1"
- Contributions:15
Hi Martin,
Your best bet is to talk with various lenders in the city in which you are looking to purchase your home. Different lenders can offer different loan packages. I would recommend at least talking with three. Once you have been pre-qualified and found a lender that best suits your needs, you and your fiancee' can be confident to know what you can afford. The next step would be to talk with various real estate agents and choose the one which you feel most comfortable working with. All of the above answers to your questions are great!
Your best bet is to talk with various lenders in the city in which you are looking to purchase your home. Different lenders can offer different loan packages. I would recommend at least talking with three. Once you have been pre-qualified and found a lender that best suits your needs, you and your fiancee' can be confident to know what you can afford. The next step would be to talk with various real estate agents and choose the one which you feel most comfortable working with. All of the above answers to your questions are great!
- Alyssa Hellman, "AgentAlyssa"
- Contributions:6
I agree with Sharon. Speak with a lender. They will consult at no cost to you. Prior to looking at any real estate, it is best to know what you can afford. Speaking with a lender will help you grasp this and make your search much easier and better experience for you!
- Mike Shirley
- Contributions:30
Martin,
The best thing you can do is to speak to a mortgage lender in your area. Tell them what you would like to do and ask them to pull your credit report. They'll be happy to look it over and give you a list of steps to prepare for buying your first home.
Don't be suprised if they tell you that you will need at least 3 lines of credit for at least one year and a 3.5% down payment which could be a gift or loan from a family memeber. Your FICO credit scores will also need to be about 600 and if they are better it will make things easier.
Good Luck!
The best thing you can do is to speak to a mortgage lender in your area. Tell them what you would like to do and ask them to pull your credit report. They'll be happy to look it over and give you a list of steps to prepare for buying your first home.
Don't be suprised if they tell you that you will need at least 3 lines of credit for at least one year and a 3.5% down payment which could be a gift or loan from a family memeber. Your FICO credit scores will also need to be about 600 and if they are better it will make things easier.
Good Luck!
- Jason Nowak, "jnowak1027"
- Contributions:80
start establishing a credit history now! secured cards and smaller credit cards that will begin reporting to the agencies will get you that FICO score you need. In reference to tradelines, alternative tradelines such as utility bills, cell phones, furniture payments will all be considered by your lender. You will need a clean 12 month history on three of these and a FICO of a 640 for most lenders to offer an alternative credit FHA loan with 3.5% down. Call a lender soon and get started, those three to four months will be passed before you know it!
- Dan, "the_country_hick"
- Contributions:4694
After you have your credit working well and your fico score is good and your ready to purchase a house follow the ideas in the links below.
Decide how much you can really afford to spend each month. Do NOT trust a lender for this. They do not know what you really spend and how much you can really safely afford. If you listen to a lenders idea of what you can afford you might not have a life as every penny you make goes to the house and your normal expenses.
"How to determine what you can safely afford to pay towards your monthly mortgage payment. Lenders may give a different number. "
This shows you how to look at the question of rent or buy using your own numbers. It could be either way. Just make a good decision based on what works best for you.
"Does it make more sense to buy, or to rent? Here is the way to find out for sure."
This shows some not so obvious reasons why renting could be better for some people at some times. It is worth reading just to look at some ideas you may not have considered.
"Why rent if you could buy for less money? Valid reasons inside."
Finally, this is the basic house buying process. It shows the basic steps to go through in a simple way.
"Its your first home and you are looking for something but are not sure where to start to look or about loans."
One thing I would suggest is that you actually get married and stay married for a year or so before buying. That way the stress of being newly married is not added to by the stress of having a new house to take care of also. Both the buying process and the financial stress can make it tougher on you. Giving some time for only one big new stress at a time makes sense to me. No, I do not mean that every stress is a bad one it only means it takes some time to get used to.
Decide how much you can really afford to spend each month. Do NOT trust a lender for this. They do not know what you really spend and how much you can really safely afford. If you listen to a lenders idea of what you can afford you might not have a life as every penny you make goes to the house and your normal expenses.
"How to determine what you can safely afford to pay towards your monthly mortgage payment. Lenders may give a different number. "
This shows you how to look at the question of rent or buy using your own numbers. It could be either way. Just make a good decision based on what works best for you.
"Does it make more sense to buy, or to rent? Here is the way to find out for sure."
This shows some not so obvious reasons why renting could be better for some people at some times. It is worth reading just to look at some ideas you may not have considered.
"Why rent if you could buy for less money? Valid reasons inside."
Finally, this is the basic house buying process. It shows the basic steps to go through in a simple way.
"Its your first home and you are looking for something but are not sure where to start to look or about loans."
One thing I would suggest is that you actually get married and stay married for a year or so before buying. That way the stress of being newly married is not added to by the stress of having a new house to take care of also. Both the buying process and the financial stress can make it tougher on you. Giving some time for only one big new stress at a time makes sense to me. No, I do not mean that every stress is a bad one it only means it takes some time to get used to.
- Dunes....
- Contributions:3894
In my opinion you need to become aware of your options and formulate some type of plan first..before running off haphazardly to any old Lender or RE Agent...
This is a MAJOR Decision and Financial Obligation with many possible life affecting impacts..good and bad
I would suggest you give this Fed. Gov. Site a look, it has all the Current Fed Housing Loans (FHA/Vet/USDA ect.) and you search for specific information, compare options, or take a short questionnaire to determine your eligibility for each program.....Fed Loans..Housing
I would suggest you read the 9 Steps to Homebuying on the Hud site as they are an excellent guide & Resource plus links to your Local Homebuyer Programs....
(Step 3 is interview lenders..Step 5 is interview RE Agents)..
Buying a Home
Check out all this information from the Dept. of Justice Web Site...
Competing Models of Real Estate Brokerage
Consumers Can Save Thousands of Dollars in Commissions
Competition and Real Estate... Real Estate Laws in Your State
Rebates Make Buying a Home Less Expensive
Rebate Calculator
You could also make use of the Fed Gov and Banks Sites they have created to allow the Public to view their Properties for Sale/Foreclosure/REO..Get a feel for Prices and different Options
Sites like...HUD Homes...Fannie Mae
You can find the links to all the Gov sites here...Link
Bank sites like....Bank of America...Wells Fargo
You can find links to Bank sites here...Link
For finding Public Records, Property Records, Tax Sales posted ect. you may find this Public Records Search Engine helpful...Check it out
Free Public Records Search Directory
You have options .. become familiar with them..Protect yourself
This is a MAJOR Decision and Financial Obligation with many possible life affecting impacts..good and bad
I would suggest you give this Fed. Gov. Site a look, it has all the Current Fed Housing Loans (FHA/Vet/USDA ect.) and you search for specific information, compare options, or take a short questionnaire to determine your eligibility for each program.....Fed Loans..Housing
I would suggest you read the 9 Steps to Homebuying on the Hud site as they are an excellent guide & Resource plus links to your Local Homebuyer Programs....
(Step 3 is interview lenders..Step 5 is interview RE Agents)..
Buying a Home
Check out all this information from the Dept. of Justice Web Site...
Competing Models of Real Estate Brokerage
Consumers Can Save Thousands of Dollars in Commissions
Competition and Real Estate... Real Estate Laws in Your State
Rebates Make Buying a Home Less Expensive
Rebate Calculator
You could also make use of the Fed Gov and Banks Sites they have created to allow the Public to view their Properties for Sale/Foreclosure/REO..Get a feel for Prices and different Options
Sites like...HUD Homes...Fannie Mae
You can find the links to all the Gov sites here...Link
Bank sites like....Bank of America...Wells Fargo
You can find links to Bank sites here...Link
For finding Public Records, Property Records, Tax Sales posted ect. you may find this Public Records Search Engine helpful...Check it out
Free Public Records Search Directory
You have options .. become familiar with them..Protect yourself
You need to go with a mortgage broker or a bank to get pre-qualified.
Mortgage brokers can qualify you with several financial institutions including the same banks. They will check wich one is the best fit for your case. If you don't qualify with one, you may qualify with another. The advantage of it, is that you do this process once. If you don't qualify with one institution, they send your file to another.
Guidelines for loan programs differ slighty from one bank to another, for example how much reserved money you have for a loan, credit score (640 vs. 660) and so on.
You can also go directly to the bank to get pre-qualified. The only difference is that you can only get pre-qualified with it. If you qualify that is great, but if you don't qualify you have to start the application process with another bank or with a mortgage broker.
To qualify you need two years of work in the same line, 3 or 4 lines of credit (each with 12 months of history), and money to put down and closing.
Lines of credit can be traditional (credit bureau reported credit lines) and non-traditional (utility bills). I believe you can get an FHA loan with traditional and non-traditional lines of credit.
The best thing to do is to start the process with either right away!
Mortgage brokers can qualify you with several financial institutions including the same banks. They will check wich one is the best fit for your case. If you don't qualify with one, you may qualify with another. The advantage of it, is that you do this process once. If you don't qualify with one institution, they send your file to another.
Guidelines for loan programs differ slighty from one bank to another, for example how much reserved money you have for a loan, credit score (640 vs. 660) and so on.
You can also go directly to the bank to get pre-qualified. The only difference is that you can only get pre-qualified with it. If you qualify that is great, but if you don't qualify you have to start the application process with another bank or with a mortgage broker.
To qualify you need two years of work in the same line, 3 or 4 lines of credit (each with 12 months of history), and money to put down and closing.
Lines of credit can be traditional (credit bureau reported credit lines) and non-traditional (utility bills). I believe you can get an FHA loan with traditional and non-traditional lines of credit.
The best thing to do is to start the process with either right away!
First time Buyer
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