BUYERS! Check out this great article from MSN real estate:
http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23460653&page=0#atoolb
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Importance of the Preapproval
The following is an article that the Kansas City Star ran recently, and one that I believe is well-worth repeating!
Preapproval is an important first step
You need to make sure you can get a mortgage, and know exactly how much you'll be allowed to borrow, before you start house hunting.
A few years ago, anyone with a pulse could qualify for a mortgage as lenders recklessly lowered their standards during the housing boom.
Now banks and mortgage companies are rejecting about half of all borrowers because they don't meet increasingly difficult demands for higher credit scores, bigger incomes and fewer debts.
Asking to be preapproved for a mortgage is your first chance to find out where you stand.
You fill out an application that asks how much you make, how much you've saved and how much you owe on everything from cars to school loans to credit cards.
The lender evaluates that info, checks your credit reports and credit scores, and replies with a letter that says you can qualify for a mortgage and how much it's willing to loan.
The process is usually free, and being preapproved boosts your credibility with real estate agents and sellers who don't want to waste their time on buyers who may not be able to get financing.
Indeed, if you're looking for a good deal -- and who isn't? -- you stand a better chance of your offer being accepted if you've been preapproved. It's harder to turn down a sure thing.
Don't settle for being prequalified -- otherwise known as "preapproval light."
That means the lender took your word for everything and didn't pull your credit history or scores. It doesn't really say much about your ability to get a loan, and sellers consider it to be meaningless.
Here's how to get an actual loan preapproval:
Step 1. Check and fix your credit reports.
Your credit history plays a huge role in winning approval for a mortgage. You want to see it before any lender does.
You are entitled by law to a free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies every year. To get all three reports, go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
Credit reporting agencies don't check the information given to them by credit card companies, utilities or other companies. According to a survey by the Government Accounting Office, nearly three-quarters of all credit reports contain at least one error.
Check every entry on every report for accuracy. Then contact the reporting agency to correct any mistakes. Each credit report tells you how to do this.
You can't ask the reporting agency to remove legitimate black marks on your credit report, such as missed or late payments, repossessions, foreclosures or bankruptcies.
But you can attach a written statement to your credit report explaining your side of the story. For example, describe how an illness, injury, or unemployment caused a financial crisis or that a late payment was caused by an online banking error.
Step 2. Assemble your paperwork.
Use our mortgage checklist to gather all the documentation you'll need for an application.
You'll need lots of information from those documents to complete the application. The lender should ask for at least some pay stubs, credit card bills, bank or retirement plan statements.
Step 3. Pick a lender.
The best loan for most buyers is a traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with no points and fees of $2,000 or less.
These are safe, totally predictable loans that carry none of the risks associated with interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages. You'll never have to worry about interest rates going up, principal payments kicking in or any other nasty surprises that could drive up your housing costs a few years down the road.
Use our extensive database of mortgage rates to find a bank or mortgage company offering the best deal.
You don't have to get your loan from the lender that preapproves you, but you'll be one step ahead if you do.
Step 4. Apply for preapproval.
Whether you apply in person or online, through a bank or a mortgage company, the information you'll have to provide is pretty much the same. You'll be asked:
For your street address, e-mail address, phone and Social Security number. If you've lived at your current address for less than three years, the lender will want to know where you lived before that. If you are buying this home with someone else, they'll probably want to know your relationship to any co-borrowers.
Whether you currently rent, own or live with family.
How many dependents you have.
Your annual income.
Your occupation, employer and how long you've worked there. If you've been with the company for less than two years, it will ask where you worked previously.
Your assets -- what you own and what it is worth. This includes your current home and other property, checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds and retirements accounts.
Your liabilities -- how much you owe, to whom and how much you pay every month.
Whether you have filed for bankruptcy in the last 10 years.
Whether you are behind on any bills.
Whether you are a first-time buyer.
Whether you are buying a home as a residence or rental property or, in the case of a duplex or other multifamily unit, both.
You should get preapproval in one to two weeks. The more complicated your finances, the longer it will take.
You may be asked to clarify or provide additional information by phone, e-mail, fax, or traditional mail.
Step 5. Start hunting for that dream house.
When you find out how much you can borrow, you're ready to start house hunting.
Preapproval usually comes with a 30- to 90-day time limit. Most lenders will run another credit check and extend the offer if necessary.
By Sally Herigstad
Interest.com Contributing Editor
interest.com - 2009-12-10
Preapproval is an important first step
You need to make sure you can get a mortgage, and know exactly how much you'll be allowed to borrow, before you start house hunting.
A few years ago, anyone with a pulse could qualify for a mortgage as lenders recklessly lowered their standards during the housing boom.
Now banks and mortgage companies are rejecting about half of all borrowers because they don't meet increasingly difficult demands for higher credit scores, bigger incomes and fewer debts.
Asking to be preapproved for a mortgage is your first chance to find out where you stand.
You fill out an application that asks how much you make, how much you've saved and how much you owe on everything from cars to school loans to credit cards.
The lender evaluates that info, checks your credit reports and credit scores, and replies with a letter that says you can qualify for a mortgage and how much it's willing to loan.
The process is usually free, and being preapproved boosts your credibility with real estate agents and sellers who don't want to waste their time on buyers who may not be able to get financing.
Indeed, if you're looking for a good deal -- and who isn't? -- you stand a better chance of your offer being accepted if you've been preapproved. It's harder to turn down a sure thing.
Don't settle for being prequalified -- otherwise known as "preapproval light."
That means the lender took your word for everything and didn't pull your credit history or scores. It doesn't really say much about your ability to get a loan, and sellers consider it to be meaningless.
Here's how to get an actual loan preapproval:
Step 1. Check and fix your credit reports.
Your credit history plays a huge role in winning approval for a mortgage. You want to see it before any lender does.
You are entitled by law to a free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies every year. To get all three reports, go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
Credit reporting agencies don't check the information given to them by credit card companies, utilities or other companies. According to a survey by the Government Accounting Office, nearly three-quarters of all credit reports contain at least one error.
Check every entry on every report for accuracy. Then contact the reporting agency to correct any mistakes. Each credit report tells you how to do this.
You can't ask the reporting agency to remove legitimate black marks on your credit report, such as missed or late payments, repossessions, foreclosures or bankruptcies.
But you can attach a written statement to your credit report explaining your side of the story. For example, describe how an illness, injury, or unemployment caused a financial crisis or that a late payment was caused by an online banking error.
Step 2. Assemble your paperwork.
Use our mortgage checklist to gather all the documentation you'll need for an application.
You'll need lots of information from those documents to complete the application. The lender should ask for at least some pay stubs, credit card bills, bank or retirement plan statements.
Step 3. Pick a lender.
The best loan for most buyers is a traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with no points and fees of $2,000 or less.
These are safe, totally predictable loans that carry none of the risks associated with interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages. You'll never have to worry about interest rates going up, principal payments kicking in or any other nasty surprises that could drive up your housing costs a few years down the road.
Use our extensive database of mortgage rates to find a bank or mortgage company offering the best deal.
You don't have to get your loan from the lender that preapproves you, but you'll be one step ahead if you do.
Step 4. Apply for preapproval.
Whether you apply in person or online, through a bank or a mortgage company, the information you'll have to provide is pretty much the same. You'll be asked:
For your street address, e-mail address, phone and Social Security number. If you've lived at your current address for less than three years, the lender will want to know where you lived before that. If you are buying this home with someone else, they'll probably want to know your relationship to any co-borrowers.
Whether you currently rent, own or live with family.
How many dependents you have.
Your annual income.
Your occupation, employer and how long you've worked there. If you've been with the company for less than two years, it will ask where you worked previously.
Your assets -- what you own and what it is worth. This includes your current home and other property, checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds and retirements accounts.
Your liabilities -- how much you owe, to whom and how much you pay every month.
Whether you have filed for bankruptcy in the last 10 years.
Whether you are behind on any bills.
Whether you are a first-time buyer.
Whether you are buying a home as a residence or rental property or, in the case of a duplex or other multifamily unit, both.
You should get preapproval in one to two weeks. The more complicated your finances, the longer it will take.
You may be asked to clarify or provide additional information by phone, e-mail, fax, or traditional mail.
Step 5. Start hunting for that dream house.
When you find out how much you can borrow, you're ready to start house hunting.
Preapproval usually comes with a 30- to 90-day time limit. Most lenders will run another credit check and extend the offer if necessary.
By Sally Herigstad
Interest.com Contributing Editor
interest.com - 2009-12-10
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year's Resolutions for Your Home!
-
Make Your Case for a Property Tax Reduction
To successfully challenge a real estate assessment and lower your property tax bill, you need to do a bit of sleuthing first. Read
-
A Financial Plan for Your Home
A house is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make. Create a financial plan that takes into account repairs, upgrades, mortgages, insurance, and taxes. Read
-
Create a Home Emergency Preparedness Kit
Having a plan for an emergency and creating a preparedness kit that’s tailored to your needs could be the key to your family’s safety if disaster strikes. Read
-
Homeowners Insurance: Time for an Annual Check-Up
An annual check-up on your homeowners insurance can result in a healthier policy and a healthier pocketbook. Read
-
Your CLUE Insurance Report Matters
Your homeowners claims don’t disappear after your insurer cuts a check because CLUE reports keep them alive for seven years—and that could cost you. Read
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
© Copyright 2009 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
A Plethera of Uses for BOUNCE around the House
The US Postal service sent out a message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform pockets to keep yellow-jackets away.
Use them all the time when playing baseball and soccer. I use it when I am working outside. It really works. The insects just veer around you.
All this time you've just been putting Bounce in the dryer!
1. It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice.
2. Spread sheets around foundation areas, or in trailers, or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.
3. It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.
4. It repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.
5. Eliminate static electricity from your television (or computer) screen.
6. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.
7. Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.
8. To freshen the air in your home - Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.
9. Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.
10. Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.
11. Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.
12. To freshen the air in your car - Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.
13. Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The anti-static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food and the pan.
14. Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.
15. Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the lose hairs.
16. Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.
17. Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.
18. Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.
19. Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.
20. Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.
21. Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. It will keep them smelling fresh.
22. Wet a Bounce sheet, hose down your car, and wipe lovebugs off easily with the wet Bounce.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Recommended Resource
The Virgin Homeowner: The Essential Guide to Owning, Maintaining, and Surviving Your Home by Janice PapolosMy review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this book right before Eli and I bought our first house. It was so helpful when we were going through the home inspection process. I felt like I could understand everything the building inspector was telling me!
Now that I am in real estate, I continue to recommend this to all my 1st time home buyers OR anyone who wants to better understand how their house works. It will make you a more competent (& better qualified) home owner!
View all my reviews.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Buy Within Your Means
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
