Top 4 Things I’d Do If I Wanted To Purchase a Home
Looking to purchase a home in the not-too-distant future? Here are the top 4 things I would do personally to prepare:
1. Debt- I would sell my expensive car and buy something more affordable. Most people have car payments that kill their home ownership dreams. Want a car or a home? You choose. PS- You don’t need a 70k car my friends. There are nice ones for under 10k but the steering wheel may not be heated. Unless you parked outside in the AZ summer with no shade. Then it’s heated and may leave blisters.
2. Credit- Pay off credit card debts and close excessive numbers of credit cards. To maximize credit score, you want credit cards. But you only need a couple. You want HIGH limits and LOW balances to boost score. You don’t need that department store card. Tell Khols no to saving the 10% on this one time purchase.
3. Income- I would think about my income. Salaried. Done. Hourly- Are you working 40 hours a week or do you like to cut out early on those Friday afteroons so you average 35 or 36 but it is not consistent. That can be a qualificaiton killer. If I was an hourly employee, I’d focus on working a full 40 hours consistently. If I am self employed, I would send my tax returns to a person like me to review to see what income can be used to qualify. I would think twice before getting creative with my accounting if you know what I mean. 🙂
4. Savings- I would focus on saving at least 5% of the purchase price or sourcing where those funds would come from. Maybe you can get a gift from a family member for the down payment. Maybe you can sell part of your baseball card collection you know is going to make you rich (I have some cards if anyone is interested). Regardless of where it comes from, figure it out ahead of time. Talk to me about these down payment options and how to structure it so you don’t mess something up. There are dos and don’ts when it comes to different down payment sources.
Use this as a basic roadmap. This is what I would personally do in preparation to buying a home and then I would call……me to get prequalified.
Have questions? Call me.
True North Mortgage LLC
505 E Plaza Circle Dr Ste D Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ 85340
Phone:Â (623) 535-7880
Fax:Â (623) 535-7883
jim@tnmaz.com
