The Real Estate Browser Volume 8, Issue 1 | Page 12

New Year , New Home ? What Does 2017 Have in Store for You ?
12 — Say you saw it in The Real Estate Browser of Lynchburg — Volume 8 Number 1 www . LynchburgRealEstateBrowser . com
New Year , New Home ? What Does 2017 Have in Store for You ?
By Sherry Brady , NMLS 217258 , Branch Manager , Summit Mortgage Corporation
As 2017 begins , so we begin to think of all the new hopes , dreams and plans we have for the new year . I imagine that for most of you reading this article .... a new home is among those dreams . You would think that with all the hustle and bustle of the season , shopping for a new home would be the last thing you ’ d have time to do , but for me and my family , that has not been the case at all ! I ’ ve always found this time of year to be particularly wonderful time for house hunting . Our family is on our fourth home , and three of them have been purchased during the winter months , or the very early spring . For me personally , it seems that when you ’ re in that holiday spirit and the air is crisp and clean , and homes are decorated , it ’ s just a wonderful time to go house hunting ! The only question is ... are you READY to house hunt ? And what does being ready to house hunt even mean ? There are a couple of things that you can do to ensure that your house hunting and home buying experience is an outstanding one .
The first thing you should do is talk to a mortgage lender . That ’ s the very first thing on the list ; before you even spend too much time looking at the online sites and dream weaving ! Why ? There are so many reasons ; here are just a few of them :
• You may not have any idea what your credit score is , or whether there may be any credit issues that need to be worked on before you could qualify for a home loan . There are minimum credit score requirements for each loan type , so you need to be sure you meet the standards for the loan you want .
• You probably don ’ t know what loan programs are available , and whether you might qualify for a “ no money down ” loan . The 100 % loans all have income limits so you need to be evaluated to ensure your income doesn ’ t exceed the limit for these types of programs .
• If you don ’ t qualify for 100 % financing , then you ’ ll need to know what your other options are and how much down payment you ’ ll need . On some programs , getting a gift from a family member may be acceptable for down payment , but this requires careful documenting of the transaction .
• You don ’ t know what documentation is going to be required to verify your income and assets . It ’ s critical that you can show two to three months of bank statements in most cases , with no unexplainable , or cash , deposits . And , is your source of income acceptable ? If you have a second job , we may or may not be able to include that income .
• If you have a home to sell , you may need some help figuring out what your bottom line is on the home you ’ re selling in order to be able to move on to the home you want to buy ;
Until you talk to a lender , who can evaluate all of these factors and advise you , you really have no idea how much home you can afford , and until you know that , you don ’ t even know where to begin looking ! Give us or your local lender a call today to get started if a new home is on your list of resolutions for 2017 ! Happy New Year ! http :// www . lynchburgrealestatebrowser . com / index . php ?/ properties / price _ reduced http :// www . lynchburgrealestatebrowser . com / index . php ?/ properties / price _ reduced for the latest REDUCED properties . for the NEWEST LISTINGS .
http :// www . lynchburgrealestatebrowser . com / index . php ?/ properties / newest _ listings