Buying a home is an exciting time in one's life. Making the smart move of choosing a REALTOR® is your first step to ensuring that your new home and community meets your needs. Our real estate services and experience range from helping you find the house or land that best suits you and your family, negotiating the best price, helping you through the loan process and through to closing. For your convenience, we also provide real estate listings by email.
As Your Agent, We Will:
- Assure that you see all the properties in the area that meet your criteria.
- Guide you through the entire home buying process, from finding homes, to getting the best financing.
- Negotiate with the seller's real estate agent on your behalf
- Make sure you avoid costly mistakes.
- Answer all of your questions about the local market area, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.
Before You Start Looking For Your New Home:
- Check your credit rating. Straighten out any errors before its too late.
- Determine a comfortable monthly budget for your new purchase, including down payment and monthly payment.
- Find a loan program that meets your needs and get pre-qualified.
- Determine what neighborhood best matches your needs.
- Identify important features you need your new home to have.
- Put off getting other credit until after closing.
Closing Costs to Expect
- Lender fees include charges for loan processing, underwriting, preparation and establishing an escrow account.
- Third-party fees include charges for insurance, title search, and other inspections such as termites.
- Government fees include deed recording and state & local mortgage taxes.
- Escrow and interest fees include homeowner's insurance, loan interest, real estate taxes, and occasionally private mortgage insurance.
Mortgage Interest Rates
Check our mortgage calculator page for some handy mortgage calculators and current rates.
A Word About Credit Reports and FICO Scores
A good, clean credit report and credit score is vital for obtaining a mortgage. Here are some resources that allow you to check out how you stand in today's credit world.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, (FACTA) was passed to help consumers with their credit and help prevent identity theft. It requires all three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to provide every consumer with one free credit report per year. The credit reporting services have implemented FACTA at www.annualcreditreport.com to give consumers one free credit report per year.
FICO scores are a relative measure of your credit score using an algorithm developed by a company called Fair Isaac Corporation. The FICO score takes into consideration several factors, including punctuality of payments, amount of debt, debt composition, length of credit history, types of credit used, and amount of credit obtained recently. There is only one true FICO score and it is not reported directly by the three credit reporting services. The services make their own adjustments to the raw FICO score. A true FICO score may be obtained from Fair Isaac Corporation at www.myfico.com. This is a pay service, but check the site for specials.
Some Tips for Getting the Best Home Mortgage
- Check your credit to be sure it is accurate. Dispute any inaccuracies by visiting the credit reporting agencies on the web.
- Keep your credit situation stable until settlement -- this is very important because approval letters are only valid if your credit situation doesn't change!
- Don't make a major purchase before your home purchase! That new car, draperies, furniture, etc. should wait until after settlement.
- Stay at your current job. Switching jobs can affect your credit score ... wait until after settlement, if at all possible.
- Do not apply for new credit before settlement, even if you are not planning to use it. This will reduce your FICO score.
- Pay your bills on time. Not doing so severely reduces your FICO score.
- Have a down payment. The days of "zero financing" are essentially over. 5% is a good down payment, but the more the better.
- Shop lenders and read the fine print!
|
