Before Buying Your Home
As we move further into 2015, many families are looking to move homes, too. Whether you are a first time buyer or have experienced the process before, a checklist to make sure you’ve dotted your “I”s and crossed your “T”s is always useful. Continually committed to ensuring our customers enjoy the smoothest home buying process, we’ve created one for you!
1) Assess and strengthen your credit score. Every individual is entitled to an annual credit report for free, and you can obtain this through www.freecreditreport.com.
2) Review your earnings, debt, and budget, and realistically determine what you can afford. Ideally, your home expenses should be less than 28% of your gross monthly income. It’s a good idea to test out living on that for a few months before committing to buy, too.
3) Save, save, save for that down payment and closing costs. If you can save more than 20% of the home’s closing costs, you may be able to avoid paying PMI (private mortgage insurance).
4) Obtain a mortgage pre-approval letter. While this isn’t technically necessary, it is one of the most helpful steps you can take. It helps you know how much home you can comfortably afford and expedites the buying process tremendously, once you decide on that home.
5) Make a list of the “must have” features for your home, as well as a second list of “what I’d really like.” For example, sufficient space is necessary, a formal and informal dining room may not be.
While these are the biggest factors in preparing to buy or build a new green home in Oklahoma, we know that many more questions come up along the way. As always, we invite you to call or email us for any help you may need.