The first step in purchasing a home is to figure out how much you can afford.
The best, and easiest, way to determine how much you can afford to pay for a home is to pre-qualify for a mortgage.
Step 1: Figure Out How Much You Can Afford
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a list of 9 steps to buying a home. The first step in buying a home is to figure out how much you can afford.
- Figure out how much you can afford
- Know your rights
- Shop for a loan
- Learn about homebuying programs
- Shop for a home
- Make an offer
- Get a home inspection
- Shop for homeowners insurance
- Sign papers
Pre-Qualify for a Mortgage
What’s the easiest way to figure out how much you can afford to pay for a home? Pre-qualify for a mortgage.
A mortgage pre-qualification is an estimate of how much you can afford to borrow for a home based on your financial situation.
Jill Kransy, in Business Insider, emphasizes that serious homebuyers start with pre-qualifying for a mortgage:
For serious homebuyers, the pre-qualification process represents an important first-step prospective buyers tend to overlook.
There are obvious advantages to pre-qualifying for a home loan:
- You know how much you can afford to pay for a home.
- You don’t waste time looking at homes out of your price range.
- Realtors and sellers take you more serious, because they know you are a serious buyer.
How Do I Pre-Qualify for a Mortgage?
It’s easy to pre-qualify for a mortgage. We’ll briefly review your financial situation, including your credit score and income to debt ratio, to determine how much you can afford to borrow to purchase a home.
If you would to start the process of pre-qualifying for a home, you can fill out a Quick Application online. Or, you can call us at 866-910-8020.
The Marimark Mortgage Newsletter will keep you informed with important events in the mortgage industry that could impact your finances.
We especially focus on ways to save money on your current and future mortgages. And, we continually share the information we share with our clients, because we believe informed consumers are the best consumers.
Real estate agents, and other professionals in the industry, will receive an ongoing wealth of information that will help them serve their clients.
