How to Prepare Financially for a Home Purchase?
The Mortgage Process
You don't want the surprise of learning that you're not financially qualified to buy the dream house you've found after a long search. To avoid it, you need good credit standing, money to close and a income you can prove.
Examining Credit Reports
Hopefully, this won't come as a surprise - you need a good credit score to get a mortgage. Start poring through your credit reports to find errors or use a daily credit score monitoring service if possible.
If you want to improve your credit score quickly, stop using your cards two months before applying for a mortgage and pay down your current balances. As well, you should avoid getting new credit until after closing on your new house.
If you're purchasing the property with a co-buyer (for example, your spouse), your credit score as well as that co-buyer's will be considered by your mortgage lender. Even if the other buyer's score is stellar though, don't assume that things will go perfectly from there. Lastly, remember that the least amount of time you can make a significant improvement in your credit score is six months, so start as early as you can. Go to the reference of this site for more information about real estate.
Saving Cash for a Down Payment
Aside from ensuring that your credit score is looking great, you'll also want to plan for the money you'll need to make a deposit. This would be around 3.5% to 20% of the purchase price. While saving up for your deposit, resist the temptation to invest in the volatile stock market with cash that you intend to use within a year or two.
It can be so tempting indeed when you know you can get a larger return on your money instead of sticking to a traditional savings account. At the same time, you can't risk not having the funds in handy when you've found the right house to buy. While saving, never underestimate the amount of money you might need.
Getting Documentation in Order
Of course, at the end of the day, your documents say it all. You can't buy a house - at least not legally - without all that paperwork. Besides, there's no way you can get a mortgage if you can't prove that you have enough income to pay off the loan. So start collecting those paystubs, bank statements, w-2s, etc., and if you're a freelancer or self-employed, copies of your tax returns in the last two years. Determine the best information about real estate https://www.huffingtonpost.com/aj-agrawal/5-basic-tips-for-investing-in-real-estate_b_9072532.html.
