When preparing to buy your home, condo in Virginia Beach,
Chesapeake, Suffolk, Norfolk, or Hampton Roads it is important to know this
about real estate:
You need to get
financing secured before searching for a home in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton Roads, or buying your dream oceanfront
real estate.
In our last article we discussed “Why
do you want to buy a house”
Preparing for the real estate purchase:
1.
Pull your credit report about 12-18 months
before contemplating a home purchase. The Fair
Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer
reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - to provide you with a
free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. You
can obtain the link to order this FREE credit report on the above
mentioned site/link. Review the report looking for what you really
owe people, balances, and potential errors before any real estate
consideration.
2.
Avoid fake sites that promise you FREE credit
reports, etc., and often require you to sign up for their credit monitoring or
some other feature that COSTS money. Remember, the report is FREE as
discussed in the above paragraph. Consult
your REALTOR® for advice if necessary.
3.
Save money for your Virginia Beach real estate
purchase - this will be discussed later.
4.
The three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion do offer recommendations on
how you can improve your credit and score for your Virginia Beach or Hampton
Roads home purchase. You can use their “simulators”
but do not if they require money or a membership. A good home mortgage loan officer can give
you similar suggestions for FREE.
There is also good guidance on the FICO
website discussed in the next paragraph.
5.
Ok, you have fixed the error on the credit
report and your FICO score is now great
for a real estate transaction. You have
visited the FICO forum on the website and now are an expert and ready for to
visit a home mortgage lender.
6.
We have all listened to the stories about
subprime mortgages and the problems associated.
If you have a good FICO score and credit report this will not be an
issue. You want to consider visiting lenders that deal in Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac secondary lending systems. They will have the funds to ensure you get
the money at closing. If you are
military you have other options but many lenders are matching special products
for this group of home buyers.
7.
Collect all your paperwork. You will need W-2’s for the last two years,
bank, savings, certificate of deposit statements, investment account
statements, and pay stubs or LES if military for the past couple of
months. Your home mortgage lender may
have other requirements.
8.
Next article - More about your Lender, Saving, and
the Pre-approval letter
See how your REALTOR® provides value and represents
your interests soley whether new construction or resale.
Sellers in Virginia Beach or
Hampton Roads. Ready to sell your home? Get started by finding how much your home is worth by clicking here.
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