SPINOFF HOUSES

What do you suggest is the best way to start in regards to looking/buying a house?

Do we get pre-approved for a mortgage frist (so we know how much we can get approved for)?

go to open houses - then worry about getting a mortgage?


FH and i have been getting mixed answers and as we get started we stop because we dont want to do the wrong thing.

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Posted by jteach711

I say get pre approved first to see what amount you are able to get. My fh is a mortgage broker if you are looking for someone. He has either gotten a mortgage or refinanced everyone in my family. He knows his shiit and is really easy to work with. Let me know if you would like his info,

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Thats what FH and I said.. we should get pre approved so we know how much we can get.. but then some people are telling us well you shouldnt do it until you are ready, its crazy..

Thanks for the information. Ill talk to FH and let you know!!

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Posted by Mrs.D08

The first thing is to make sure you have good credit. Then you should see a financial advisor that will help you determine how much you can really afford.

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Luckily we have really good credit!! thanks!

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by jteach711

I say get pre approved first to see what amount you are able to get. My fh is a mortgage broker if you are looking for someone. He has either gotten a mortgage or refinanced everyone in my family. He knows his shiit and is really easy to work with. Let me know if you would like his info,

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Thats what FH and I said.. we should get pre approved so we know how much we can get.. but then some people are telling us well you shouldnt do it until you are ready, its crazy..

Thanks for the information. Ill talk to FH and let you know!!

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I agree with getting a pre-approval because it saves time. Plus a lot of times you won't be considered 'serious' by home owners unless you've talked to somone.

However, the only problem I've seen is that they really don't look at finances as closely for the process. When I was looking to buy a few years ago I had a preapproval for a certain amount. Then I started looking at things that were a little more expensive and went back to the guy and all he is said is no problem we'll just change it its just a number. I asked, 'can I afford it though' and he was like oh yeah. Truthfully I couldn't afford it at all. I'm not really sure I got a true pre-approval more like just a letter saying something to that extent.

Also make sure you do a credit check. Usually they do this anyway but its still a good thing to know no matter what.

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Posted by jsta76

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by jteach711

I say get pre approved first to see what amount you are able to get. My fh is a mortgage broker if you are looking for someone. He has either gotten a mortgage or refinanced everyone in my family. He knows his shiit and is really easy to work with. Let me know if you would like his info,

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Thats what FH and I said.. we should get pre approved so we know how much we can get.. but then some people are telling us well you shouldnt do it until you are ready, its crazy..

Thanks for the information. Ill talk to FH and let you know!!

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I agree with getting a pre-approval because it saves time. Plus a lot of times you won't be considered 'serious' by home owners unless you've talked to somone.

However, the only problem I've seen is that they really don't look at finances as closely for the process. When I was looking to buy a few years ago I had a preapproval for a certain amount. Then I started looking at things that were a little more expensive and went back to the guy and all he is said is no problem we'll just change it its just a number. I asked, 'can I afford it though' and he was like oh yeah. Truthfully I couldn't afford it at all. I'm not really sure I got a true pre-approval more like just a letter saying something to that extent.

Also make sure you do a credit check. Usually they do this anyway but its still a good thing to know no matter what.

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i kow what u'r talking bout but i dont' think this kind of thing would happen today.. not with the mortgage companies folding left and right.. and truth be told they are foldin because they did stuff like that years ago.. giving people the go ahead to buy houses that are out of their price range..

have good credit, and get that preapproval letter, it doesnt take that long to get. its actually very easy.

Try to work with ONE realtor
it helps

Last year we bought and we looked with one realtor for 3 weekends in a row. Just hit up houses saturday and sunday. We looked at about 10-12 houses per day.
and we literalyl found the house on the 3rd weekend.

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Posted by TheFutureMrsM

have good credit, and get that preapproval letter, it doesnt take that long to get. its actually very easy.

Try to work with ONE realtor
it helps

Last year we bought and we looked with one realtor for 3 weekends in a row. Just hit up houses saturday and sunday. We looked at about 10-12 houses per day.
and we literalyl found the house on the 3rd weekend.

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I agree with this.

No matter if it is 'their' house or not, realtors usually represent the seller and work for their best interest (unless you pay them to become the buyers rep). It's important to find somone you trust that will think of you first.

1. Improve Credit
2. Get preapproved. (A seller/realtor take you more seriously if you have approval)
3. Save as much $ as you can for a downpayment and closing costs. (More than 20% down on a house gets you out of PMI. ) But you also need money for closing costs which could be high!

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Posted by MiciB115

You definitely want to get pre-approved so you know how much you can afford. You may think you can afford say a $450k house, when in reality you can't. Don't go to more than one place though because it will screw up your credit. It is also better to go through a mortgage company than a regular bank. You get better rates through them. FH & I will be going through his cousin's FH when we start to look in January. I also suggest you go to open houses if you're not familiar with the area because it will give you a lot of info on the neighborhood.

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thanks for the info everyone.

We def want to see what we can afford, like you said, what we think we can, may not actually be what we can.

Yes, its crazy that if they check your credit too often that it messes up your credit.. the whole credit score thing is so dumb - but whatever.

FH and i have started looking at areas we like, but we def plan on starting to go to open houses soon. We need to get an early start because what we are looking for may not be that easy to come by. We need to get a house that we are going to be able to either build an extension on or has the room available for FH to have his private practice, and of course has the other things we both want in a house.

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Posted by jgl

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Posted by MiciB115

You definitely want to get pre-approved so you know how much you can afford. You may think you can afford say a $450k house, when in reality you can't. Don't go to more than one place though because it will screw up your credit. It is also better to go through a mortgage company than a regular bank. You get better rates through them. FH & I will be going through his cousin's FH when we start to look in January. I also suggest you go to open houses if you're not familiar with the area because it will give you a lot of info on the neighborhood.

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thanks for the info everyone.

We def want to see what we can afford, like you said, what we think we can, may not actually be what we can.

Yes, its crazy that if they check your credit too often that it messes up your credit.. the whole credit score thing is so dumb - but whatever.

FH and i have started looking at areas we like, but we def plan on starting to go to open houses soon. We need to get an early start because what we are looking for may not be that easy to come by. We need to get a house that we are going to be able to either build an extension on or has the room available for FH to have his private practice, and of course has the other things we both want in a house.

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I told FH a few weeks ago I want to start going to some open houses. He's not really ready for that yet tho.

I wanted to get a house with an apartment we could rent out. We've been told not to do that but i'm still considering it for some extra $$$. Only problem is that you have to pay to get everything fixed if there are problems.

Credit is really screwy. i did one of those free checks for FH a few weeks ago. I realized that he's had his credit checked several times recently. We applied for an AMEX joint credit card and it was on there that they ran a check. It didn't say the score so I'm not sure but I think we both have good credit that i'm aware of.

I'd figure out what you can afford before being pre-approved. I don't know that pre-approval tels you what you can afford. Our bank wanted to pre-approve us for WAY more than we were comfortable spending on a house.

Add all sources of regularly monthly income between you and your fh. Make a realistic list of your expenses. Then subtract your expenses from your income. I'd deduct a $1000-1500 cushion from that number (or more if you can). The number that's left is the monthly payment (mortgage and taxes) you can afford.

www.prudentialelliman.com has a 'mortgage calculator' that calculates what a monthly payment would be on a specific house. You plug in your down payment, the price of the house, the taxes, and the interest rate on your loan.

Check out open houses on www.mlsli.com, and see what kind of house you like.

(FH's dad is a realtor, can you tell?)

Good luck!!!!