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Buying a New Home – Home Buying Tips
If you are in the process of looking for your first home, there are some essential
steps that you should be aware of. Many times, people fall in love with
a home and rush into the deal—not considering some important issues. Unfortunately,
many of those people end up unhappy with their purchase or end up with
a deal gone bad. Avoid this by following the suggestions
below and ensuring that you have thought out your purchase
thoroughly. These are the Best of the Best:
-(updated )-
When applying for a bad credit mortgage loan, make sure you are current on your existing credit lines. You will want your current credit to be as good as possible.
Also, make sure to include all the income you have. If you have any equity in any stocks or other financial accounts, make sure to mention that to the broker as well.
The more money you can put down on the loan, the more likely it is that you can get approved. FHA loans usually only require 3-5% down. They are also usually open to working with people with credit problems.
The most important consideration
should be the sales price of the home. Just because it's the
best home in the neighborhood, that doesn't mean that you should
pay a lot more for it. In fact, experts tell us that the “best”
house in the neighborhood probably won’t sell for much more
than the other homes in the area. You should look to pay not
more than 10-20 more than the other homes in the area—no matter
how much nicer the home is. Anything higher than that is based
on emotion—not business—and will probably cost you when you
go to sell it.
Next, you should take a serious
look at the neighborhood itself. How are the school systems
rated? Even if you don't have children this is important because
when you go to sell the home, your buyers might. Is the house
located in a convenient area, or would you have to drive excess
miles to do your grocery shopping? In addition, you should
visit the area in the day time, as well as the night. Does
the “feel” of the area change when it's dark, or does it still
look like a nice place to live?
Finally—and perhaps most importantly—don't
get caught up in “house fever” and commit to buying more than
you can afford. One way to do this is by being pre-approved
by your mortgage company. This will tell you exactly how much
you can afford to pay, and that will automatically slim down
your options. A good rule of thumb when you're shopping is
that your mortgage payment shouldn't exceed more than 36 percent
of your income.
Here are our recommended sources for good mortgage lenders online:
These are the Best of the Best:
(updated )
The average rate of interest on mortgage loans continues to fall and has been under 5 percent for almost all of this past year, with this recent round of rate cuts seen as the lowest for borrowers in years. The reason, many borrowers today have bad or at least less than perfect credit scores. Still a borrower with less then perfect credit an jump through a few hoops and get a fairly decen rate on a loan.
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