If You Want To Get The Best Mortgage, With The Best Rate, Be Sure To Follow This Advice And You’ll Be Right On Track

Not checking your credit. You should know where you stand in the credit score department before you look for a mortgage. After all, a bad credit score can raise your mortgage interest rate several percentage points or leave you with no approval at all. Be sure you check your credit early in case any changes need to be made.

Applying for other credit lines simultaneously. Definitely be sure to avoid applying for any other type of credit before and during the mortgage application process. Whenever you apply for new credit, you’re seen as a greater credit risk. If you happen to apply for a credit card or auto loan around the same time you apply for a mortgage, your credit score already is going to be knocked down by 10 points (5 points per inquiry).

Not looking at the total cost involved. A mortgage payment consists of principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Remember to factor in property taxes and insurance premium into the overall mortgage budget. The debt-to-income ratios used to determine if a borrower will qualify for a certain mortgage payment, is calculated by dividing the proposed cost of insurance subtracted by your overall income

The bank or lender will want to see that you can actually pay your mortgage each month. But without seasoned assets, those that have been in your own account for at least a couple months, you could be out of luck entirely.

Job Hopping. Another key to mortgage approval is steady employment and income. An lender will want to know that the income you bring in every month is consistent. This is the wrong time to job-hunt.

Before shopping for a home, make sure you can actually qualify for financing by getting a pre-approval. A mortgage pre-approval is more accurate than a simple pre-qualification because the bank pulls your credit and looks at your income, assets, and employment. With this pre-approval, you will also get a written commitment from the lender that will show home sellers you’re serious about the purchase.

Only applying to one lender. But just because you’re pre-approved with one bank doesn’t mean you need to obtain financing from them. Be sure to shop around with multiple banks and lenders and even consider a mortgage broker. A broker can shop your rate with a number of banks concurrently and find you the lowest rate with the best terms. Don’t be one of the many consumers who obtains a single mortgage rate prior to applying.

Shop around for the lowest rate and closing costs, but not at the expense of your mortgage. Anything that sounds too good to be true most likely is. If the payment seems too low, you might be paying interest-only or even negatively amortizing, meaning your mortgage balance is growing each month. Read this useful article, Mortgage Refinance: What If Rate Drops After You Lock?

 

1 Comment

  1. It’s very important to pre-qualify for a mortgage before you start the formal shopping process. By doing this, you can get an idea of what kind of home you can afford and what the monthly payment will look like.

    Getting pre-approved takes this a step further. It’s good to get an idea of the loan you can get, and when your credit is in order and you’re ready to start the process, getting pre-approved will give you a much more accurate estimate of how much the bank will actually lend you.

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