How to be Sure You Can Buy the House You Fall in Love With !
14 — Say you saw it in The Real Estate Browser of Lynchburg — Volume 8 Number 3 www . LynchburgRealEstateBrowser . com
How to be Sure You Can Buy the House You Fall in Love With !
By Sherry Brady , NMLS 217258 , Branch Manager , Summit Mortgage Corporation
I know I ’ ve talked about this before , but I feel this is so important that it really merits talking about again because we are about to enter the spring buying season ! One of the first things you really need to do once you decide to think about buying a home is to talk to a lender and get preapproved for a mortgage loan . Meeting with a lender will help you determine what your options are , such as : what types of loans and how much you will qualify for , what will your monthly payment be , will you have to make a down payment , what are the closing costs , and how long will the process take ... just to name a few . Getting these answers ahead of time will allow you to shop for your home with confidence , and less stress .
It is critical in my opinion that you do this before you even go to the first Open House . Why ? Because once you open that door and start looking at homes , you never know at what point your dream home is going to find you . You could look for months , or it could be the very first house you walk into that turns out to be “ the one ”. Once that happens , you ’ re going to want to put an offer in on the home as soon as possible so that you don ’ t risk losing it . That ’ s when you Realtor is going to ask for the letter saying you ’ re pre-approved for a mortgage loan - if they haven ’ t already asked . If you have great credit and have found a home that fits within your buying power , then you can get that preapproval quickly , but if you have any credit challenges , or have fallen in love with a home that ’ s more expensive than your budget can afford , the process of getting a preapproval letter could take a while , or may not even be possible right now .
Even if you already know that you have great credit and the financial ability to buy a home , working with a lender can help you determine what you projected new monthly payment will be and help you to be certain it fits within your preferred budget . There are many times that I tell a client what they can be qualified for , and then they tell me that they don ’ t want their payments to be anywhere near that high . Also , be aware that in many cases , the monthly payments that you see advertised online for homes are inaccurate for the typical buyer because they are based on a set of criteria that may not represent you . Common factors that online payment quotes are based on are : credit scores above 740 , at least 20 % down , and no escrows for taxes or homeowner ’ s insurance . This is an unrealistic payment quote . Very few people put 20 % down , and nearly all loans include escrows for taxes and insurance . My experience is less than 5 % of people waive escrows . Working with a local lender can help you determine the true monthly cost of your housing .
Having a pre-approval tells both your realtor and the seller of the home you wish to buy that you are serious . Not only do you want to buy , but you have the financial ability to do so . An added benefit it that by getting pre-approved , we can begin your loan approval process early , before you find the house , so that once you find the home you love you ’ ll be able to get to closing quicker ! Call us or a local lender today to get on the road to your new home !