Alabama Home Loans - Mortgage Articles

Know Your Long Term Goals
You should carefully and diligently consider your long term goals and expected situation before determining the type of mortgage that will best suit your needs. There are many questions you should ask yourself before committing to any mortgage, here are a few to consider:

How long do you plan to own the property?
Will it be your primary residence?
Do you plan to rent the property?
What direction are interest rates going in, and how quickly?
Is your income expected to change (up or down) in the near term?
How much money do you want to use towards your mortgage?
Know Your Monthly Dollar Amount
Know your limitations and comfort level and stick to it! Its important that you know exactly what dollar amount you feel comfortable committing to - pre-assess for yourself, a mortgage payment and down payment that you are comfortable with before beginning.

Your situation may qualify you for an amount that is higher than the amount of money you would want to pay each month. By working your figures out, you can determine what home price this will equate to with the current interest rates, thus you will not waste time looking at property which is not in your price range.

Don't get pushed around! All too often, real estate agents will encourage buyers to purchase a home that caps the limits of their mortgage qualification. If you have decided to ditch the agent, then you will not have this pressure - congrats.

Understand your Credit Rating
You should consider checking your credit proir to your mortgage shopping. Knowing that you have good credit will certainly help you when applying for a mortgage. However, don't despair if you have a few blemishes on your report, knowing ahead of time, is the best way for you to fix them. Take the time to have a credit checkup before meeting with mortgage brokers and lenders. This will help you avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Get Preapproved
You can, and should get preapproved for a mortgage before you go looking for a home. Preapproval is easy, and can give you complete peace-of-mind when shopping for property. Any lending institution can provide you with written preapproval for you at no cost and no obligation, and it can be done quite easily over the Internet or the phone. More than just a verbal preapproval from the lending institution, you should receive a written preapproval, it's considered as good as money in the bank. This will entail a complete credit application, and a certificate which guarantees you a mortgage to the specified level when you find the home you're looking for.

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More to Come!