Home Mortgage & Home Buying Tips

Start Early

If you are looking to refinance your home, you should start looking early for a lender in order to help you with the process. Knowing far in advance of your closing will allow you to select and lock in your interest rate at a time that is best for you and on your schedule rather than risking missing opportunity now.

If you are looking to buy a home, getting preapproved for your home mortgage is critical to finding the best home for you and your family. This is because home sellers (even businesses that build and sell them) are busy and don't like to waste their time showing their home to hundreds of people, only to find an interested buyer who later discovers they cannot get approved for a loan high enough to pay for the house. To avoid this kind of disappointment and waste of time, look into getting your home loan pre-approved, which is a much simpler process than a full-loan and close, and will allow you to know exactly how much home you can afford and should be shopping for.

Clear up Your Credit

Shopping for a home or refinance is naturally a very credit-intense endeavor. Your credit report will be key in determining not only whether or not you can secure a loan, but also what the terms of that loan will be. Higher credit scores mean lower interest rates and a significant savings over the life of the loan. For this reason, if there have been recent issues with your credit, you should take the time to clear them up before formally applying for a loan with a lending institution. This could be as simple as settling old debts that are in collections, or checking your credit report and writing to clear up any discrepancies that you find. Every adjustment upward of your credit score could mean the difference in a percentage point that you will pay over the life of your loan.

Save up Now to Save Plenty Later

The down payment is often the most overlooked and undervalued aspect of home buying that is capable of doing so much for saving money. Having a higher down payment for your house not only shaves off money that you will eventually have to pay the bank, but it also sends a signal to the bank about the seriousness of your intention regarding the purchase of the house; this in turn will often encourage the bank to offer you a lower interest rate for your loan. Consumers who hold off on buying a loan today in order to take the time to save up a 20% or greater down payment tend to make bank underwriters giddy with surprise.

It's Not All About the Monthly Payment

Certainly the monthly payment for a home refinance or mortgage is important, but don't let that be the only determining factor for you when you are shopping for a loan, to decide which lender you will go with. It can be a big mistake to have tunnel-vision and focus on monthly payment size only rather than the size of the loan or the interest rates. You could end up paying a little amount for much longer than you need to, or over-borrow and buy too much house simply because the bank or seller worked the numbers to give you a lower monthly payment at less-favorable terms over time. If you have any inquries, please take a gander at our Frequently Asked Questions page.