Five Process's to Make a Smoother Home Purchase

Buying a home can be and is an emotional, time-consuming, and complex procedure but there are a few things that you can do to make the process more pleasant and go smoother.

1. Credit Issues

Prior to applying for a home loan, no matter what your credit is, it's a smart idea to get a copy of your credit report from the three major credit bureaus and review the information. If there are errors on your reports that need to be addressed, it is best to address them before you have found your home. It becomes very stressful once a home is identified and than a credit issue pops up while in the mortgage process.

If you know that there are a few blemishes on your credit, let your lender know what they are, why they are there, and why you are still a good credit risk. Lenders use your credit to determine how likely you are to pay back the loan.  If you had an unusual circumstances - like a loss of a job or medical bills - let them know so that they understand that it is not likely to happen again in the future.

2.  Loan Approval

Loan approval means that a lender has reviewed your credit history, verified your assets and employment, and has approved the amount of loan before you have identified the home you would like to purchase. Once you have identified the home then the loan can be completed i.e. appraisal, surveyed and identified repairs.

Having an approval gives you an advantage over other buyers! First, you know what you can afford and don't lose time looking at the wrong property. Second, you are in a stronger purchasing position  knowing what you can afford and the seller knowing that you can afford their property. Third, It also puts you in a stronger negotiating position when there is more than one buyer interested in a property.

While getting pre-qualified may sound official, it is really just getting an idea of what you can afford.  It's having a person plug in a few numbers that you give them on your monthly income and monthly debt plus an approximate pay calculation. From this information and the use of a calculator an approximate home payment can be calculated to see what you can afford. None of this information at this time is verified by the loan officer.  Because your assets, income and debt are not verified a pre-qualification letter is issued by the loan officer with conditions that need to be met for loan approval.

3. Get Informed

Learn about the neighborhood! Often times the home you find may be in a neighborhood that you know little about, this is ok.  What it means is that you will have to do a little more research on the neighborhood and home that you like. Once you identify a property that fits your living style this is when my job really starts. My job at this time is to assist you in determining if the list price is in the value range of the other homes in the neighborhood.

Now that you have a property identified and know the neighborhood it is located in, you might want to check out the schools, crime statistics, location of police and fire stations, hospitals, shopping areas, etc. Why you may ask? Property Value! For example; good schools means the  neighborhood will always be valued by families. Low crime statistics gives a feeling of safety. Closeness of the fire and police stations may reflect on your insurance. Location of  hospital and shopping may bring other values to your new home.

Also don't overlook the neighbors!  They usually know a lot about what is going on in the neighborhood and may know something about the home that you are interested in.