Changes are always scary for many of us most of us do not like change. When you decide to make the move to buy or sell a home it can be not only stressful but scary. You might have been in the home for years or in the same town. You might have to move because of financial reason or life changes. Whatever the reason is its unknown territory for you. I met with a women this weekend who is going thru this right now. She lives far away from family for the past 20 years, while it was a good 20 years in her town she now finds herself older and alone. She needs to be around family and around people who care about her. She has decided to sell her house and move. This is scary for her. I sat with her for about 2 hours not only explaining the paperwork but just listening to her. I think she needed someone to just validate that yes, this is a change but we will embark on this journey together. I will help her achieve her goals of not just selling her house and finding her a new place to live but in helping her thru this unknown time in her life. She just needed some reassurance. Isn’t that just what we all need.
Closing costs
Closing costs.. if your buying, selling, or refinancing your going to have closing costs. Closing costs are of the fees involved in the loan. Escrow and title fees, lender fees, interest on old and new loan, taxes and insurance. An experienced loan officer or realtor should be able to explain every closing costs you will have in your tranaction. When you go to sign your loan papers weather selling, buying or refinancing you should know exactly what those closing costs are.
Home buyers Info
Research shows borrowers who don’t understand the mortgage process or don’t know enough about their own credit history tend to be rejected when applying for mortgages.
Borrowers need to do some research before on their credit before they start to buy. There are apps like Credit Karma that allow you to look at your credit score and show you how much credit you are using. I suggest that before borrowers get ready to buy they get a credit report. See what the their credit score is and check to make sure their credit is correct. They should also research to find out what there debt to income ratio is. That is the formula that the lender use to in qualifying. It is the total debt including potential housing, taxes and insurance and consumer debt divided by the monthly gross income. that number should be around 45%. If you are a soon to be buyer do some homework on yourself before you even start the process.
Getting ready to buy
Here are a few Tips to get you credit worthy shape to buy a house.
1. Start now. Even if your not sure about buying a home now start anyway. Review your credit with a free credit report to see where you stand. Call creditors and see if you can negotiate, some will allow you to pay then and remove the derog.
2. Stay on top of your credit. There are many apps that allow you to monitor your credit free of charge.
3. Stay below 30% of your credit limits on your credit cards. Believe it or not you don’t want to have zero balances on every credit card keep some small balances on your cards.
4. Avoid big purchases. If your thinking of buying a house soon wait to buy that new car. Not only does it effect your score it effects your debt ratio.
Financial diligence is a skill that will serve you before, during, and beyond the home buying process


