Let's say that you want to buy a house but you're not quite ready. One of the first things that you want to do is to look at your budget, what are you comfortably affording right now for a housing payment? And then how does that translate into a mortgage payment?
A lender can help you tighten up what that number translates into for home. But I would start to make sure that you're really confident in what your budget is right now. Even if you can go up a little bit, what that comfort level is, the second thing that you're going to want to do is to take a look at your credit, maybe you're using a credit monitoring service, which is great. Keep in mind that the scores aren't going to be the same as what we as a lender are going to use a wonderful resources annual credit report.com. That allows you to request a free credit report, and it doesn't hit your score. And then those credit bureau websites will give you guidance on how to dispute inaccurate information to make sure that your credit is in as good of a shape as it can be before you apply.
The third thing that you'll want to do is when you're anywhere from about four months to a year before you're ready to buy, at least take 15 minutes to consult with a lender. Ask them some of your questions as far as potential downpayment options or target credit scores, or even some general budget numbers. We will be able to help you then come up with a plan to then make sure that you're on the right path. In order to buy, one good thing of taking a look at your budget is let's say that you feel like you can comfortably afford maybe $300 more than you're paying in rent right now. Start taking that $300 and set it aside as savings. That way your budget can really get used to that monthly housing expense, and it will put you on the right path in order to save up for downpayment. I think the biggest thing is to not be intimidated to talk with a lender or not feel like you have to be 100% ready.
I'm here to help answer those questions for you. I love helping people come up with a strategy to buy their home. It doesn't just mean that you're going out this weekend. So give me a call or shoot me a message and let me help you on that path.