4 Things To Prepare To Buy A Home In Royal Oak

A home is likely one of the most expensive items that you will purchase in your adult life. Therefore, it is important that you take as much time as necessary to find both a home and mortgage that meets your needs. Let’s go over some of the steps that you should take prior to starting a housing search.

Review Your Credit Profile

The first thing that you’ll want to do before making an offer on a home is to check your credit score and history. You will need a credit score of at least 620 to get affordable FHA, VA or USDA loan terms. If you are in the market for a conventional loan, you will need a credit score of at least 640 to obtain a reasonable interest rate. It is a good idea to review your credit report to ensure that it doesn’t contain any inaccurate information.

Take Action to Improve Your Credit Score

Improving your credit score may be as easy as paying down the balance on a credit card or taking care of a missed payment. In some cases, removing inaccurate information from your credit report can improve your score by as much as 100 points.

How Much Money Will You Put Down?

In most cases, conventional lenders require that you make a down payment of 20% as a condition of loan approval. However, it may be possible to put as little as 3.5% down if you obtain an FHA or VA loan. Furthermore, government loan providers generally allow other people to make this payment on your behalf.

What Do You Need From a Home?

It is important to know ahead of time what you would consider to be a suitable home. For instance, you may only want to look at houses that have three bedrooms, a finished basement and a yard big enough for your dog to run around in. If you aren’t keen on doing a lot of maintenance on your new house, it may be in your best interest to find a turnkey property.

When choosing a home, it is important to consider how your needs might change in the future. If you are planning on having a child in the next couple of years, it may be worthwhile to buy a home that has one more bedroom than you currently need. In addition, you’ll want to look for homes in quiet neighborhoods that are close to good schools.

As a general rule, you’ll need to stay in your home for at least three years before you can afford to sell it without taking a significant financial loss. Therefore, it is important to find a house that you will feel comfortable living in long after taking possession of it.