How to Buy a Home Series – 1 The Lending Process
This is our first video in a series of videos on how to become a home owner. Today we’re going to talk about the lending process and how to get pre-qualified and what a minimum score typically is to become pre-qualified.
About us
So, first I’d like to tell you a little bit about who we are. We’re real estate brokers here in Spokane and we’ve been in the business collectively 22 years we’ve sold up by a few homes, like to the tune of sixteen hundred. So, we know what we’re talking about and because we have sold so many homes we want to share with other people and see if we can help you in your [home buying] process.
Speaking to a Mortgage Lender – The lending Process
Okay, so, the very first thing that you need to do when you go to purchase a home is speak to a mortgage lender. Unless you’re going to pay cash. Cash is good but many people have to get a home loan and it’s really important that you start with a qualified lender.
Local Lenders
We prefer to find somebody locally here in Spokane. Todd and I work with a few lenders in Spokane and the reason we like to choose local lenders is because if something goes wrong in the transaction they’re here and we know they’re gonna pick up their phone. So that’s the number one thing that we recommend is using somebody local. It’s really tempting to use an internet lender or somebody you’ve seen an advertisement for but what we find is when you need help you get routed to a call center and they can’t do anything quickly. When time is of the essence and you’re competing against other people to win a house, you want somebody that you can reach right away.
Minimum Credit Score
The minimum credit score typically is 600-620. I don’t know if you know your credit score. The lenders use a different sort of credit score than sites like Credit Karma so then that’s exactly why you’re going to want to speak to a mortgage lender. We can get you in contact with a mortgage lender and he’ll ask you a series of questions and then you’ll probably fill out an online application.
Initial Lender Consultation – The Lending Process
The initial consultation really doesn’t take very long so don’t be afraid of that. We’ll try and connect you right away so you can have that first conversation. It’s really important to get that process going because you don’t want to start looking for a home that you can’t afford. You also want to find out not only what they say you’re qualified for in purchasing amount but you want to make sure that the payment actually fits your budget.
Shopping for Rates
A couple things that people don’t realize is that you can actually shop for rates. You don’t have to go with the very first person that you see and you can shop around and see if someone will price match. That’s also something that’s really important when it comes to lending. It’s free for you to fill out an application – you do not have to ever pay for that part of the process. That’s why it’s also important to make sure you find a good lender to make sure that the costs are all kind of jiving with each other. That’s another reason where when you come to us as experts we know exactly what it should cost you to get a home loan. So, if you’re interested in getting pre-qualified reach out to us today and we’ll get you connected.
What you need for a down payment
And on the last note if you don’t have a down payment, well guess what? There’s programs that help you get into a home without a down payment. The Washington state housing program makes it easy to qualify for conventional and FHA and we can explain all that sort of things to you when you give us a call. And even there are also some opportunities with an organization called the USDA depending on where you want to buy your house at.
Let’s get connected
So, if you’re interested in getting connected with one of our lenders that we recommend or if you’d like to sit down with us in person and go over the home buying process we would love to meet with you visit our website it’s called thetoddsullivanteam.com; toddsullivanteam.com or leave us a comment and we will be happy to get in touch with you. We look forward to meeting you!
