When you buy a home, there’s more to shop for than just the right place to live. Before you settle with a lender, you should shop around a bit. You want to be sure that your lender has your very best interests in mind when you’re in the midst of making one of the biggest purchases of your lifetime. Below, you’ll find some of the most important questions that you need to ask a lender while you’re in the process of buying a home.
Choosing the right lender involves choosing a firm that offers the types of programs that will be helpful to your specific situation. You should look for a lender that offers a wide array of loans to suit your needs. Beware of any lender who tries to push you into a certain type of loan, especially if you don’t feel that it is a good fit for you.
If you are seeking a certain type of loan, you probably should tell your lender that upfront. Of they seem familiar with it and have worked with the loan before, you’re in good hands. If the type of loan that you’re looking for is more uncommon, then you may need to shop around carefully for the right lender who understands your needs.
The requirements for the same loan at two different lenders could be different. Things like your credit score could be a big factor. If you have a less than desirable credit score, this would also prompt you to want to look around a bit. You should know that different lenders have different terms and looking at a few lenders could be beneficial to you.
You’ll need a general ballpark idea of what rates will be for you when you finally secure that home loan. Keep in mind that rates fluctuate often and that an estimate will be just that. It’s not a number that will be set in stone, however, it will give you a good place to start as you shop around for a loan.
There are many down payment assistance programs available and your lender can help you to navigate them. The more you put down, the better your interest rate will be. If the amount that you’re able to put down on a home is a factor for you, definitely discuss it with your lender.
In hot real estate markets, you’re going to need some proof that you’re pre-approved in order to have the upper hand once you put in an offer on a home. Your lender should be able to provide your real estate agent with a certified letter of your pre-approval and the amount.
Choosing the right lender is just as important as choosing the right realtor and the right home to buy. It’s just another part of the home buying process!
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Some people seem like born organizers, especially when it comes to meal planning. In reality, it's a skill you can cultivate. Let us show you how to do just that, in five doable steps.
Any goal — exercising more, learning a new language or planning meals — starts with making a commitment. When you decide to get organized about planning meals, write down ways this new skill can help you. Start by asking your family or friends what they like to eat. Choosing people you actually cook for enables you to factor in their preferences.
If you work full-time, you might not have time to cook fresh meals every day. Here's an example that nets you several meals with a few main ingredients. Buy a rotisserie chicken for one dinner, use some of the leftovers on a fresh salad the next night, then change it up by throwing the remaining meat into yummy chicken tacos. That's three meals down. Does roasted pork loin with veggies sound great for Sunday dinner? You can use the leftovers to make pulled pork sandwiches on Monday.
You can also map out two weeks of menus at a time. This saves trips to the grocery store and makes it easy to plan meals around ingredients that fit more than one recipe. Remember to give yourself a break. This could mean occasionally eating out or including easy-prep meals to take the pressure off. Once you creating a grocery list that strategically maximizing all the ingredients you have to buy, work on another two-week meal plan. Eventually, you'll have several go-to roadmaps, complete with recipes and grocery lists, to feed your family two weeks at a time.
If your meal plan includes perishable items, make those early in the week. Save simple omelets or pasta plates for further out to minimize trips to the grocery store. Balancing fresh and frozen goods can save money and allow you to buy some items in bulk. Many people over buy fresh produce and end up throwing it out when it goes bad.
After you eat a meal, take time to ask everyone for an honest evaluation. Make it fun with a star system. Gold stars are definitely do-overs. Bronze stars and below may need to be replaced on the roster.
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Unless you're a first-time home shopper, you'll need to acquire your next home while selling your current home. How do buyers finesse this?
When buyers are competing with each other for a tight inventory of available homes, the ones who are ready to come to the table fastest, not the ones with contingencies, are most likely to succeed.
So, what's an ordinary buyer to do? Here are the top solutions—not all for the faint of heart!
Selling one home to buy the next makes the already complex matter of home buying...more so. But an experienced real estate agent can lead along the best path for your circumstances and put you in touch with financial professionals where needed.
