Be Prepared.
Houses are going fast. If you’re ready to make the jump, it’s important to be prepared. Stop in and talk with one of our loan officers! We’ll discuss what you can afford, what your monthly payment might be, and how much savings you will need to purchase a house. Through these discussions, we’ll prequalify you for a loan. It’s not a guarantee for final loan approval, but it is a good start and will show real estate agents and sellers that you’re a serious buyer.
Get Prequalified.
It doesn’t need to take a lot of time or effort to get prequalified for a loan – at the soonest, it can even happen within the day. Typically, we look at your expected down payment, your credit score, and your debt-to-income ratio. A debt-to-income ratio is a term used to give us an idea to how much of your monthly income goes towards your debt (or some other monthly expenses). A lower debt-to-income ratio tells us that you have enough monthly income to cover additional debt (like a new house) and would have the capacity to make your new mortgage payments on time.
Appraisals.
There is a high demand for housing right now, and this means that the prices of houses are high as well. This can make things tricky, because we look for an appraisal to tell us how much the house that you’re wanting to purchase is worth. If the appraised price of the house is quite a bit lower than the purchase price, it makes it a riskier loan. Typically in today’s market, appraisals are matching the purchase prices of houses, but we do recommend making an offer on a house contingent on financing – this will make sure you’re covered in case the appraisal comes in way lower than expected.
New Construction.
Houses are expensive right now, and there’s not many available - so another option is to build your own! Costs of building materials are pretty high right now too, but low interest rates help offset that expense. If you’d like to learn more about the process of building a home, check out our Dream to Build Program or meet with one of our lenders!