Ready, Set Go!

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So. You have decided that you want to get out of that apartment and purchase a home this year. Congratulations, I support you 150%. (Full disclosure here, I make my living doing mortgages so your successful house hunt, means I get to pay my mortgage-but that aside, even given the fact I have a dog in the hunt, I really do believe whole heartedly that home ownership is the way to go.)

But it is important that if you are planning on purchasing a home this year that you understand the lay of the land. Locally, that is. In the Tippecanoe and contiguous county area there is currently a shortage of homes in certain price ranges. And the price range that most first time home buyer's are looking is a key one.

That being said, it is a very bad idea to go open housing on a Sunday without a plan. You may not intend to buy a house next Sunday, but if you find "The One", it probably won't be available by the time you are ready to write an offer. By ready I mean that you have been to your lender to get your financing in order. You might think you know what you can afford to pay for a mortgage payment, but do you really know if that is what a lender will allow? Do you have a down payment? What if you don't? How is your credit? Is it mortgage ready? What kind of loan are you talking about? All key questions to a purchase agreement.

Every year I have first time home buyers (and some second or third timers who don't realize how vastly different lending is than the first time they bought) present themselves for a quickie pre-approval letter, only to find that the assumptions they have made about what they can buy, or the payment required is vastly different than what they thought. Maybe the credit score is a tick too low for the loan that is being requested, or too low for mortgage lending at all. And before you can say, "Bob's your uncle," "The One' is gone, sold to a buyer who had their financing in place and ready to go. I know, the financing and number crunching isn't the fun part of the process, but it is a necessary part. So please...don't assume anything. Give me a call and get ready, set, to go. You may not find a house for six months, and that's okay. When you do I will have what we need in my file to give you a thumbs up to rock and roll on an offer so you are in the best negotiating position possible.