What can you do to ensure loan pre-approval? Go back and read Chapter 1, with a focus on the steps you need to take to make sure you’re actually ready to buy a home and start shopping for a home loan. To refresh your memory, the steps are: • Improve your credit score. • Save for a down payment. • Build up your savings account. • Research recent home sales in your area to see what’s a ff ordable. Again, make sure you have o ffi cial pre-approval for a home loan before searching for homes, visiting properties, and placing any o ff er. Your buyer’s agent can help you make sure everything is in order. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting everybody’s time, including your own, if you make an o ff er, enter into a contract, and only then learn that the bank won’t lend you what you need. SHOPPING FOR A LOAN For the majority of buyers, getting a mortgage is part and parcel of purchasing a home, simply because not very many people actually have the ability to pay for a house upfront, in full. Because lenders know this basic fact, there is a lot of competition out there — banks, mortgage brokers, and other mortgage lenders and companies vying for buyers’ business. What you need to do is take your time actually researching and shopping for home loans and the best loan deal you can fin d for yourself and your situation. Th ere are diff erent types of loans out there, and it’s in your best interest to check out several of them, and then compare them. Th at way, you’ll have a better chance at securing a mortgage that’s not only a ff ordable now, but also something that won’t be burdensome to you down the road. Further, you’ll have the opportunity to save some money at the 94
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