Here are a few of the best kept secrets before buying a home in Fort McMurray. We’ll tell you what you need to know before you start shopping for a home or Mortgage in Fort McMurray and the reasons why ignoring these tips could literally cost you.
Get Pre-Approved before You Shop
Pre-qualification is not the same thing as pre-approved. Pre-qualification simply means you could get a mortgage, not that they will give you one, much less at the current interest rate. While Fort McMurray is a buyer’s market, we are starting to see a shift that suggests it will turn into a seller’s market; you could still lose the house to someone who is pre-approved for the mortgage and able to close right now. Pre-approvals in Fort McMurray shows that you’ve been approved by the lender for a loan up to a certain amount. It also saves you time, since you won’t be looking at houses you cannot afford in Fort McMurray.
Buy When the Time Is Right for You
Don’t try to time the housing market leave that up to the experts in Fort McMurray. If you have a large enough down payment and can afford a home, buy a home you like. Waiting for home prices to come down in Fort McMurray could leave you stuck with a 5% more expensive house next year. And you’re not building equity in your own home. So if you can afford a home, go ahead and buy when it is right for you. This could really save your sanity if you need a larger home and/or yard for the kids and pets.
Don’t Pile Up Debt
It is a major mistake to start piling up debt before you plan on buying a house or when you’re in the process of closing on a house. For example, you will hurt your debt to income ratio if you buy a car with a loan a few months before you buy a house also this will make the lender fear by giving you a mortgage you may face payment shock. Conversely, if you make progress paying off debt, you’ll have a better loan to income ratio. Just make sure you don’t go deeper into debt after you buy the house.
Another mistake is reacting to the thrill of buying a new home by buying items on credit to fill it. This means taking your time buying furniture and not going overboard with new everything. You qualified for the mortgage based on your current ability to pay debt; adding several hundred a month in loan payments for home renovations and furniture hurts your ability to pay your house, especially if life throws any hurdles at you. This could also jeopardize your Fort McMurray mortgage approval.
If you want to buy a house that requires renovation, talk to a Fort McMurray mortgage broker about options like purchase plus improvements mortgages that give you cash to pay for repairs and renovation without tacking another loan onto your credit report. The side benefit to this approach is that you have your budget and are more likely to stay within it than if you just take out a home equity line or credit card loan.
Know Exactly What You Are Buying
One variation of this advice is to know exactly what you’re buying. Will the home come furnished? If so it needs to be addressed that the furnishings come as 0 value. Which appliances will it come with? This could impact your budget for moving in. Which household items like drapes and shelves are staying, and what will you need to replace?
Another variation of this is having a survey done of the property to know exactly how much land you’re buying. You don’t want to assume you’re getting that quarter acre stretch behind the house if it belongs to someone else or is part of a utility easement. This information also impacts your property tax bill.
Don’t Buy a Home in the Hope You’ll Grow into It
It is a major mistake to buy a home hoping you’ll “grow” into it. Your property tax is based on the valuation of the home, so buying a very large home with space you may never use inflates your tax bill unnecessarily. That’s aside of how the larger home costs you money in the form of higher utility bills. If you buy a home you can barely afford, you may spend so much money servicing debt you cannot save for emergencies (including repair bills) or retirement. And if you buy a home in an upscale area with barely the money to pay for it, the odds are that you’ll spend more on decorating, maintenance and lifestyle. The effect is so great that the book “The Millionaire Next Door” found that people who buy a house hoping to become successful financially essentially guarantee that they won’t. Buy a home you can easily afford now, so you can start paying it down and accumulating wealth.
Call your Fort McMurray Trusted Mortgage Broker, Jodi Whalen, today to receive expert advice for your next important purchase!!!
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