The First Step in the Home Buying Process: Getting Pre-Qualified

Have you ever wondered what the first step in the home buying
process is? Today, Tim Curtin from Americorp Mortgage Services is
here to help answer that question. Before you even start looking at
homes, the first thing you need to do is get pre-qualified. You
simply call your lender, talk to them about what you want to do,
and then they will take your personal information, income, and
assets to figure out what kind of loan you will qualify for. A
pre-qualification is different from a pre-approval. The
pre-qualification is more of a preliminary step. A pre-approval is
when the lender goes through and verifies the information you
provided during the pre-qualification. The documents you need to
provide to the lender include 30 days worth of paystubs, your W-2s
from the last two years, two years of tax returns if you have
investment income or are self-employed, bank statements from the
last two months, and a photo ID. “Get pre-qualified before you look
at homes.” The whole process lasts about 30 days from getting
approved to taking the loan to closing. You may even qualify for
more than what you can afford. The lender allows you to borrow as
much as their guidelines will allow, but that might be more than
you can afford. Budget out your monthly mortgage payments in order
to know what you can actually afford to spend on a home. If you
have any questions for Tim, you can call him at 703-930-1765 or
email him at T.Curtin@Americorp-HomeMortgage.com. As always, if you
have any real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out
to me. I look forward to hearing from you!