1. Take stock of your situation

?What are your short-term goals?
?What are your long-term goals?
?How long to you plan to live in the area you are thinking about?
?How long is your family going to be the same size or growing?
?How much are comfortable paying for rent/mortgage per month?
?How much money do you want to use for a down payment?
2. Get pre-approved.

Take the time to get pre-approved before you begin looking at homes. In fact, many real estate agents won't work with you until you have received pre-approval for a mortgage. Regardless, you should look to get pre-approved anyway so you know what you can realistically afford. You might find the perfect home, and then find out the bank denied your loan application. This heartbreaking scenario wastes your time and your agent's time also.

Going through the mortgage-approval process can be as difficult, or as easy as, the details regarding your personal situation. If you have a stable job, money in the bank and a good credit score then it will be a quick painless process. However, if you have issues in your past it doesn't mean you won't still qualify, just be prepared to answer a lot more questions and have to document and explain situations regarding your credit history. By discussing openly and honestly your credit past and/or income/asset special scenarios, it is easier for me, or any other mortgage professional, to help you work around things if we have the full story. Hiding something because you think it will cause you to not get qualified does nothing but hurt in the long run. If we have the whole story we can typically help you paint the right picture to get approved, if not today down the road when guidelines permit.

3. Work with the lender to fix any problems that would cause you to be denied.

As a mortgage professional, one of my major task is to help people who may not be in a position to buy a home today take the proper steps to get there in the near future. This is a service that we offer free of charge. The three major pieces that people need help with are credit, income, and assets.

? Credit: you don't have the credit scores to qualify or there is a major issue on the report that would cause you to be denied.
? Income: is your income fixed or can you not find a way to make more money, but you CAN find a way to pay down debt so that your income gets you farther
? Assets: it is always hard to save money, but with the right plan in place we can work on removing debt from your monthly budget that you can then start putting that money toward a down payment.
Of these 3, the majority of our time is spent helping people with credit issues. Credit repair is something that, if you are committed, you can do yourself; you do not need to pay a repair company. Diligence is the number one thing you will need.

4. Get with your realtor and find that dream house.

In today's world it is easier than ever for you and your realtor to find a home. You have access to so much more on the internet. You can look at pictures and details of the home. This is all great but there is still a major need for a good professional realtor. They have real-time access to the homes that are listed. Not all of the websites up date their information all that often, therefore you find a home but it might already be under contract. A good realtor is also going to negotiate the best deal for you. They have access to comparable properties and what they have sold for, the type of financing used to purchase the home, how long it was on the market, and any price reductions the sellers have made. Having all this information will allow them to help you save money on the purchase price, or help you beat out another offer if you get in a multiple offer situation.

4. Try as hard as possible to keep your life simple.

When I say this, I mean that in the kindest way. Try as hard as possible to keep your financial life exactly as it is when you sit down with the mortgage professional. Any large deposits on your bank accounts will be added questions and documentation to provide. The one that many people do and really don't even think about is go and start shopping for furniture after they have an accepted contract. Most furniture stores have a one track mind "get the sale" and they will say: Hey we can get no money down no interest on that living room set, all we need to do is run your credit real fast." I cant say this loud or clear enough DO NOT LET THEM RUN YOUR CREDIT!!! Your lender will have to run a final loan quality certification on the file when they fund it. This means they are going to do a credit scrub to see if you have had any new inquiries on the credit report or have dramatically increased any of your liabilities. That furniture inquiry just showed up and your file will now be going back to the underwriter and you will be asked to send the loan officer a letters of explanation, this is going to delay your funding at least 48 hours and in some cases get your file denied.

This has been a very quick and simple look at some of the things you need to think about when preparing to buy a home. To sit down and have a full consultation please call or email me. The process takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get started.