Step One: Get Pre-qualified!
What does Get Pre-qualified for a Mortgage mean?
One of the best things you can do for yourself if you are looking to buy a new home is to get pre-qualified. Getting pre-qualified tells you approximately how much home you can afford to buy based on your credit, income, and assets. You might find that you can buy more of a home than you really want to pay in a mortgage payment. The other might be true in that you find that you do not qualify for as high of a mortgage payment as you think you can make.
What Do I Learn When I Pre-qualify?
Once you know what you can afford you will know the sales price range of the homes you can look at. This step takes about 10-15 minutes depending on how much you have to say about your situation. Once you are pre qualified you will know:
- What your approximately monthly house payment will be
- The price range of the home you can purchase
- How much down payment, if any, that you will need or want to put down
- What are your approximate closing costs
- That you can confidently go out and search for homes and put in an offer if you want to
- What kind of loan program that might be good for you based on your wants, needs, and desires
- What should you expect to happen once your home purchase offer has been expected
When you find a mortgage loan officer to pre-qualify you make sure you also discuss some of the following items if they apply to you:
- My time frame for wanting to move
- What are your future plans
- Your short and long term financial goals – your mortgage can play a very big role in you reaching your goals
- Do you already have a house in mind
- How important is the interest rate versus saving money upfront