Buying a Home in Fresno

Let’s Get Real: 6 Reasons to Get Pre-Approved Before Buying a House

So your looking at buying a home in Fresno and the perfect one just came on the market, but you don’t have FULL loan approval? What do you do? Though you may have already done the math and budget plans to decide how much you can invest into a home, you still may not have enough when you take into account interest, insurance, and other fees. It is important to be ready before jumping into a new mortgage payment. Getting a loan can be tricky, so being ready for the process can lift a great weight off of your shoulders.                               

When our dream home came on the market, it was all we could think of! However, when thinking realistically, we had to discuss how this potential new mortgage would alter our current lifestyle. Would it affect our vacations, dinner, leisure activities, etc.? When you are deciding to buy a home in Fresno, it is important to reflect on these questions first.

1) We really weren’t looking, but the home of our dreams just hit the market.

If there is a home for sale in Fresno or Clovis that you want more than any other, the potential problem is it is probably many others’ dream home as well. Because of this, taking the time to get a pre-approval letter once the house goes on the market may be too slow and cause you to lose your dream home to another buyer. Therefore, having a pre-approval letter ready and at-hand will strengthen your chances of making your dream home become your forever home.

2)  We didn’t know about all of the extra fees involved in our new loan.

Often times, new buyers are shocked when they find the actual cost of the mortgage because they forget to add the “extra fees” into their calculations. These “extra fees” can include closing costs, taxes, and insurance. Because of this, it is dire that you get you true cost number and know what you payments will be with all fees included!

3)  Even though we were approved for more, we decided we really didn’t want to spend that percentage of our salary on our mortgage.

Once you decide on an amount you are willing to invest into buying a home in Fresno, you may begin to have second thoughts. Your number may change multiple times before finally settling on a comfortable amount. This may happen even after your offer gets accepted, which is no fun for the buyers or the sellers. To avoid this predicament, make sure to get pre-approved months in advance so that you can practice budgeting this amount into your current lifestyle and consider what you may be losing in the process. Then you must decide, is it a change of lifestyle that you are going to be happy with?

4)  We didn’t realize it would take so much time to find all of the documents.

Although lenders have streamlined this process with online access to documents, this is still a very time-consuming process. After making an appointment with your loan expert, you will need to allow time to gathering the documents they require of you. Otherwise, they cannot move forward in the process of getting you an accurate and true approval and verification. It may be helpful to have these documents organized or at-hand prior to getting an appointment so that you don’t have to go in search of them.

5) We learned simple things we could do to repair our credit before taking on a mortgage.

Sometimes, making a mortgage payment easier can derive from something as simple as paying off that small amount left on a credit card or loan. Maybe you have more than one car loan or a rental property you are making payments on or maybe you are self-employed. Whatever the situation, make sure to find out ahead of time what areas you need to work on and pay for prior to qualifying for a loan.

6)  We learned about special programs available to us.

Are you first time home buyers in Fresno? Veteran(s)? Need to refinance? Your loan expert should be able to provide you with all of the latest information to explain the various programs you may qualify for. Loan experts such as ours can lead you through any program and be with you through every step of the process.                               

You don’t want to be hearing how you “lost out” on your dream home for the rest of your life so be prepared!

Know the market…Buying a home in Fresno allows you to get more home for your money than you could in most other areas of California.  However, this also means that the amount of time that homes spend on the Multiple Listing Service, or the market for buying, is very short-lived and competitive, so you should be prepared with your pre-approval letter in hand and ready to go!

 

“Mike referred us to John at Resource Lenders and we got our pre-approval letter and offer for our dream home signed and submitted within the same day! There were several offers, and without the guidance of Webber Realty Group, we would have never realized the dream of ever owning our first home!” Jon E.

 

Whether you are buying a home in Fresno, Clovis, or Sanger, we can recommend a loan specialist that will fit your specific needs and get you on the right path toward owning your dream home.  We would be happy to help you…check out what its like to buy a home in Fresno with the Webber Realty Group!

*We have some lenders who do not charge a fee to get pre-approved; however, some may charge $50. – $100.  for a credit application.

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