Kevin Vitali
The first step of buying a home is getting pre-appoved for a mortgage. FIrst it is important to note there is a pre-qualification and a pre-approval. Get the pre-approval.
The difference is a pre-qualification is a preliminary of what you might be able to afford. A good pre-approval takes into effect your credit score, your income, and your assets and is verified. This will allow you to vet any problems early, as well as talk real numbers and real scenarios.
No one can quote you an accurate interest rate without the big picture of credit, income and assets and know what program you will be using or how much money you are putting down. You need to go through all of this to get a mortgage... do it early.
By working on your mortgage early, you can identify problem areas of documentation, have time to correct credit mistakes, have time to improve your credit score and more...
Did you know about every 20 points in credit score effects your interest rate? Sometimes some very simple things can be done to improve your credit score drastically.
Source: http://merrimackvalleymarealestate.com/getting-your-first-mortgage/
Mortgages are complex. Kyle Hiscock a REALTOR in Rochester NY has written an article about 12 mistakes home buyers can make with their mortgage when buying a homes. It covers getting pre-approved immediately, maintaining your credit profile though out the process and not forgetting about the rate lock....
Check out Kyle's excellent article.
Buying a house can be exciting. But one often overlooked area of buying a house is to take the time to get a pre-approval before you start looking at house. A good pre-approval will:
Take the time and get properly pre-approved.
When going though the home buying and mortgage process you may be confonted with the option of getting a fixed rate mortgage or an adjustable rate mortgage.
A fixed rate mortgage is simple. It is one fixed rate over the life of the loan. The most popular fixed rate mortgage product is for 30 years.
An adjustable rate has many, many variable. Simply there is a fixed rate period of 3, 5 or 7 years than it will adjust typically every year there after based on the LIBOR Index.
For most people the 30 year fixed is probably the smartest way to go. But, there may be reasons why you want to go with an adjustable rate mortgage.
USDA Loans- What does this program do?
This program assists approved lenders in providing low- and moderate-income households the opportunity to own adequate, modest, decent, safe and sanitary dwellings as their primary residence in eligible rural areas. Eligible applicants may build, rehabilitate, improve or relocate a dwelling in an eligible rural area. The program provides a 90% loan note guarantee to approved lenders in order to reduce the risk of extending 100% loans to eligible rural home buyers.
There are location and income restrictions to a USDA Home Loan. It is one of the few no money down mortgage programs available today. If you are looking for a low money or no money down program consider a USDA Loan.
Private Mortgage Insurance is insurance you buy for the bank if you are putting less than 20% down when purchasing a home. The insurance covers a certain portion of any loss if you default on the mortgage, ensuing the bank can get its money back.
But what can you do to remove private mortgage insurance. Check out Bill Gassett's article on when you can remove PMI and how.
Here is an excellent government resource providing consumers with many resources on getting a home mortgage, provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
What is PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance? Learn what PMI is, if you need it and how to avoid it. Also learn how to remove PMI.
Kevin Vitali is an Associate Broker for Real Broker MA LLC in Haverhill MA.
When it comes to working with Massachusetts home buyers and sellers, every sale or purchase provides a unique set of challenges.
He has served the residential real estate community as a full-time agent for over20+ years and brings the experience of 100's of transactions to the next purchase or sale of your home.
Kevin serves: Northeast Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley, North Shore and Metrowest including the following communities and the surrounding area- Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Dracut, Groveland, Haverhill, Lowell, Melrose, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Wilmington, Westford
