Greenbook: A Local Guide to Chesapeake Living - Issue 3 | Page 27

With the summer real estate season
upon us, many Americans are
considering purchasing a home
over the next few months. The total
mortgage originations market is
estimated to be around $1 trillion
in 2014. With that in mind, the
Independent Community Bankers
of America® (ICBA) and the nation’s
more than 6,500 community banks are
on hand to help homebuyers navigate
the mortgage process.

gestions for perspective first-time
homebuyers:
• Know your monthly income and
budget, including how much you spend
on rent, utilities, entertainment,
clothing, food and transportation.
• Discuss your finances with your
community bank before you begin
looking for a home. It is important to
stay within your means when
purchasing a house.
• Gather and organize paperwork and
documents. Items you should have
“Buying a home is likely the
readily available include paycheck
biggest purchase anyone will make,
stubs, W2 forms, tax returns and bank
and community bankers are an
and investment statements for the last
excellent resource to help guide
two years.
consumers through the process,” says • Check your credit report so you are
John Buhrmaster, ICBA chairman
aware of what your current credit
and president and CEO of 1st National score is before applying for a loan.
Bank of Scotia, N.Y. “With new
Credit reporting agencies must give
mortgage rules and regulations in
you one free report annually.
place, community bankers are
• Maxing out credit cards or falling
available to help potential homebuyers behind on other loan payments could
by providing accurate and
create issues when applying for a
well-informed information. Community mortgage. Keep tabs on your spending
bankers across the country can help
habits before applying for a mortgage,
their neighbors in their local
and don’t go on a spending spree
community find mortgages that fit
afterwards either.
their financial needs, budgets and
• Work with your community banker
lifestyles.”
to figure out how much you can
borrow and which mortgage product
ICBA offers the following eight sugis right for you. Your local community

banker can explain available mortgage
options- including rate adjustments,
fees and other loan features - so you
are prepared for the loan closing and
not surprised down the road.
• Learn what current mortgage rates
are. Your community banker can help
you understand how that translates
into monthly mortgage payments.
• Check with your state, city and
county government agencies for
special first-time-homebuyer loan or
grant programs available to assist
with down payment and closing costs.
“Community bankers work with their
customers and help give advice on
finding mortgages borrowers can
afford,” Buhrmaster says. “There
are plenty of steps to complete to
ensure the home buying process goes
smoothly and community bankers are
on hand to help with this. They can
help customers determine the most
affordable mortgage options and are
available to provide additional
financial guidance if needed.
”For more information,
visit www.banklocally.org.
Reprinted with permission from
RISMedia. ©2014. All rights reserved.

GREENBOOK | SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2014

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