PLANNING TIPS
If you are paying cash for rent to family, friends, or a landlord…STOP! Pay rent (on time) with checks. You want to provide a paper trail proving that you can make monthly payments on time, especially if you have limited credit or below a 640 credit score.
“DON’T KEEP UP WITH THE JONES’S, THEY MIGHT BE BROKE!” Unless you can comfortably afford it, do not buy a home in a certain neighborhood because someone you know or a family member lives in that subdivision. Stick to your personal budget and comfort level with your mortgage payment and household expenses.
REMEMBER, there is NO mortgage rate better than a controlled loan amount. Under borrow what you can afford. Be conservative. The key is to have an affordable mortgage payment, something that you can comfortably live with.
Having great credit and down payment will definitely open up more doors for the best rates, terms, and available mortgage products for a home buyer. In order to better your position before you make the decision to purchase a home, go to the contact us page so that I may help you achieve your new home.
When writing a deposit check (EMD earnest money deposit) on a house that you want to purchase, make sure that the account that the check is written from is free of the following items.
1. NO NSF fees should be visible on the bank statement or in the year to date NSF fees column. If you have incurred some NSF fees with your checking account, then, three months prior to a home purchase, open a new checking account and keep the new account clear from overdrafts.
2. Outside of normal payroll deposits, retirement income, social security income, etc. Do not make miscellaneous deposits into the checking account. Miscellaneous deposits throw up a flag in loan underwriting.
ADDITIONAL ADVICE
ADDITIONAL ADVICE FROM THE MORTGANCIAL PLANNER… Purchasing a home in the right price range (or under what you can comfortably afford) will allow you to have a mortgage payment that will allow you to better balance your lifestyle. Comfortably being able to pay your mortgage payments and living expenses while budgeting enough funds for retirement is vital! For more guidance and a FREE consultation click the “Learn More” button below!