Mortgage 101 - Is It A Good Time To Buy A Home?

In this Mortgage 101 series, Milynda Hallermann, with America’s Choice Home Loans, and Mitchell Bonte, with Cedar Frame Real Estate, will aim to demystify the financial aspects of homeownership. We will delve into mortgage terms, home buyer credit scores, online lenders, and much more. 

Is It a Good Time To Buy A Home? 

Mitchell: In your professional opinion is today a good time to purchase a home? 

Milynda: This is a great time to buy a home. Interest rates are truly at historic lows, not only that but there are more options for home buying and more lending options than we’ve ever had before. If you are a first-time home buyer or even an experienced buyer, now is a great time for anyone in the market to buy a home.

What Should I Be Doing 6-12 Months Before Buying A Home? 

Mitchell: A lot  of the people I work with are about 6 to 12 months out from being ready to purchase a home. What are some things that they can be doing now to ensure that they receive the best mortgage terms when they’re actually ready to buy? 

Milynda: It is a great time to start getting ready even 12 months out in advance. Go ahead and establish a relationship with a lender. Get your credit checked early that way if there are any surprises you have time to address that and get your scores where they need to be. Keep saving for this whole time so you will have a downpayment. Remember that there will be closing costs to keep saving for. Don’t make any major purchases if you’re planning on buying a home don’t go buy a new car, don’t buy a lot of furniture or open new credit accounts. You want to keep your credit about the same throughout this process. Your mortgage lender may advise you to pay down some debt if possible. They will give you guidance on how to make your credit report and your whole financial picture look great. 

What Is Down Payment Assistance? 

Mitchell: Do you mind providing us with some information on down payment assistance?  

Milynda: Down payment assistance can be a great program. First time home buyers have a lot of options here in the Bryan-College Station and Texas overall. There are options with grants where you don’t need to pay the down payment back at all, and then we also have forgivable liens where once you have stayed in the house for a certain number of years, the lean is forgiven. There are some very individualized depending on what type of loan you are going to use. If you think you’re going to want to explore down payment assistance then you need to get with a lender early so that they can take the application and get a full picture of your financial situation. This will also help them see which down payment assistance program is going to be the best for you even if you think you can’t afford to purchase a new home.