How To Prepare For Buying A Home

We all know that buying a home can be a stressful process. Working with the right real estate agent, like myself, is a good way to help make the process a lot easier. To really set yourself up for success, when it comes to buying a home, there are a lot of things you shouldn’t do. In this blog post, we are going to look at some things you shouldn’t be doing before buying a home.

1. Don’t Open Any New Credit Cards

Before buying a house, or even applying for the loan, you want to make sure you don’t apply for any new credit cards. Your chances of getting approved for a mortgage could be jeopardized. It is also important to make sure you don’t max out any of your credit cards either.

2. Don’t Finance Any Big Purchases

This means no buying a new car, no buying any big furniture or appliances for your new place (at least until the sale closes) and no putting things on layaway either! The bank is less likely to approve you, for a loan the size needed to buy a house, if you just asked for a loan for something else. Remember, your debt to income ratio goes up every time you purchase a large item on credit.

3. Don’t Co-Sign For Anyone Else

While this might not be a super common problem, you don’t want to co-sign any big purchases before buying a house either. Any new inquiries will negatively impact your credit score.

4. Don’t Start Looking Before Getting Pre-Approved 

There is nothing worse than finding a house you really love, only to find out you can’t get approved. This is why getting pre-approved is very important. Another possible problem with waiting to get approved for a loan after you found the perfect house, is the seller can accept another offer while you are still waiting for your loan to get approved. Ask your real estate agent for lender referrals.

5. Don’t Quit or Change Jobs

You want to show that you have had consistent employment to be able to get approved for a home loan. So quitting your job or even changing career fields is never a good idea to go before buying a house.

Written By Nikki Allen for Anne Allen Homes