Mortgage help for a first time home buyer?
Sunday, May 9th, 2010 at
5:23 am
I am looking to get out of renting, and my lease is up in almost 3 months. (end of Dec). Question 1. When should I start looking for a mortgage, to be preapproved or prequalified? Question 2: what is the real difference between preapproved and prequalified? Question 3: I have been looking online and most free mortgage searches have a thirty day lock. Does that mean I have to find a house and close in thirty days? Good HELP PLEASE and THANK YOU! All online help say the same thing but I am not really understanding when I should actually grab a mortgage.
Tagged with: free mortgage • mortgage searches • thirty days
Filed under: First Time Home Mortgage
It is absolutely vital that you get pre-approval before you go out looking at homes. It is always best not to waste the Realtor’s time, nor your own. Get pre-approved through a lender that you feel comfortable with.
The difference between pre-approved and pre-qualified is drastic. Pre-qual. means that based on your income, job time and other factors, then you COULD be financed. Pre-approved means that everything has been verified and an underwriter has looked at your file and offered his/her recomendation.
A 30 day lock means that you have to close on the mortgage in 30 days or less. That is not to say that you will not get the mortgage after 30 days, but there will be penalties for blowing the lock. An average penalty is about .25% added to the rate.
If you would like an excellent resource to search for a home without being haggled or bothered by Realtors and mortage companies, then go to http://www.yourohiomtg.com, click on the Scouting Report link, watch the video and enroll right online. It is a GREAT tool for searching for properties. Honestly, it blows Realtor.com away and it will list all the listings from all the companies in your area.
Good luck on your search and if you would like to ask more questions, please contact me at timothy.kazee@americanhm.com. Good luck!!!!