7 steps to be ready to buy a house in 2018

FLORIDA TITLE INSURANCE

7 STEPS TO BE READY TO BUY A HOUSE IN 2018

CHECK YOUR CREDIT SCORE. A credit score is a numerical representation of your credit report. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, and the higher your score, the better.

“Good credit is like gold when obtaining a mortgage,” says Denise Supplee, a Pennsylvania agent. Typically, you’ll get the best interest rate on a loan if your score is 740 and above. “A higher credit score should net you a lower mortgage rate,” says Lee Gimpel, co-creator of The Good Credit Game, which specializes in financial education. “That lower rate, even if it’s only 1 or 2 percent lower, can mean saving thousands of dollars per year.” If your credit score falls short, get busy repairing it.

Correct any errors that might be on your report, start paying all your bills on time, and get your credit limit raised. Note, though, that you shouldn’t max out your card each month. It’s best to use 30 percent or less of your total available credit. https://artesiantitle.com/ https://www.trulia.com/blog/what-you-need-to-buy-a-house/

2. Don’t open new credit cards.

If you think resisting taking a selfie when you’re face-to-face with your fave celebrity is a testament to your willpower, that’s sissy stuff compared with turning down every offer to open a credit card, even if you could save 20 percent (or more!) on your holiday purchases. Tempting as saving at checkout can be, opening new credit may hurt your chances of getting a mortgage, or at least of getting the best rate on a loan.

3. Suggest financial gifts for the holidays.

Besides the mortgage loan, you’ll need a sizable amount of cash to buy a house. There’s the down payment to consider, closing costs, and moving costs. You should also set aside money for unexpected repairs and costs, says Brian Betzler, regional sales manager at TD Bank. Not being prepared “is probably why nearly half of millennials incurred up to $5,000 in unexpected costs during the mortgage process, according to a TD survey,” he says.

5. Keep tabs on interest rates.

4. Interview potential real estate agents.

If you hear that interest rates are at historic lows or that interest rates are on the rise, you should If your neighbor, relative, or friend of a friend not assume that you can get the rock-bottom happens to know (or is) a real estate agent, rate. Not everyone gets the same interest rate that’s great. This person might be the perfect on a mortgage loan. It depends on your financial agent for you. But you owe it to yourself to picture and on the lender you choose. shop around. “Look for [an agent] who is “Everyone knows that home prices are, at least knowledgeable, good, integral, and can assist to some extent, negotiable, but we find loans to you in reaching the goal of homeownership,” be the same,” says Warren Ward, CFP with says Chantay Bridges, a Los Angeles, CA, real WWA Planning & Investments in Indiana. He estate agent. “Make sure they are not a novice, advises that homebuyers shop around for the new, or just unaware of how to do a specific lowest interest rates. Note that closing costs can transaction.” The end of the year is usually a vary too, so discuss with your real estate agent slow time for agents, so chances are they’ll be ways to keep yours down. “We saved $150 on more accommodating to making an the closing fees by selecting the cheapest title appointment on your schedule. company,” says Ward. “I guess that’s not much, but I think most people would bend over to pick 6. Find a mortgage lender. up three $50 bills if they were lying on the sidewalk.”

Before you even start looking for a home (and yes, we even mean browsing online 7. Get preapproved. listings), look for a mortgage lender to find out if you can afford to buy a home. If you When a lender gives your financials the oncecan’t right now, there’s no use torturing over and preapproves you for a mortgage, yourself by finding your dream home that’s you’ll be able to show sellers that you really just out of reach. can buy their house. But how do you get preapproved? By preparing a few documents, which you can do several months in advance of the actual purchase.