Getting Pre-Qualified Should Be Your First Priority

Unless you’re an investor or you have been saving up for years, most likely you will need to obtain a loan to purchase the new home you’re wanting.  Now this isn’t a bad thing by any means but I highly suggest you approach the situation correctly.

A lot of people, even though they know they need a mortgage to purchase their new home, wait till the last minute to contact a loan officer or even get pre-qualified for a loan. This thought process couldn’t be more backwards for two reasons.

1. The banks have tightened up in the past two years. It is much harder to get a loan today than it was in 2005. Some banks require very specific things such as: Certain amount of time spent at one job, amount of down payment money, specific credit score. Some banks, if you don’t hit one of these things, won’t let you obtain a loan period. Wouldn’t it seem like a waste of time to spend three days in the Arizona sun looking for your dream home only to find out you have to wait another year.
2. You have no idea how much you will get pre-qualified for. You don’t want to fall in love with a home that is $200,000 when you can only get a loan up to $150,000. I have seen it happen before and it is not a pretty sight. Also, a loan officer will help you determine how much you can take out and still feel comfortable paying your monthly mortgage.

As always, us Realtors are here to help. Sometimes you just have to listen. We have seen a lot of different scenarios play out and I’m sure we can tell you which ones you don’t want to be apart of.

Thanks for reading.

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

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