Check Your Credit Score: There are multiple free services available you can use to check your credit score, and remember, your score won’t be affected by you checking it. In the year and months leading up to buying a home, we recommend working on raising your credit score to ensure lower mortgage rates.
Evaluate Your Savings: When preparing to buy a house, it is crucial to think about your down payment. An ideal down payment is 20% of the home price, but that’s not always an amount that is possible for new home buyers to pay upfront. You can choose a lower down payment, but this will raise your mortgage payments. Think about your options for getting a down payment ready, which may include dipping into your savings or taking out a loan.
Decide What Type Of Mortgage Is Right For You: When the time comes to choose what mortgage is right for you, there are a few options. Mortgage is essentially another name for a loan. There are fixed-rate and adjustable mortgages, and the interest rates, down payments, and monthly payments will vary based on what type of mortgage you choose. Once you have lived in a home for several years, there are alternative mortgage options, such as reverse mortgages, which usually do not require monthly payments since they use the home value.
Buy Your Dream Home: Once you have figured out the logistics of affording a mortgage and monthly payments, it is time to close on your dream home. At this point, your mortgage application will be approved, and it will be time to move in. Don’t forget to pay your monthly mortgage amounts on time!
