Those thinking of buying a home need good solid sources of information to educate and assist them throughout their entire home buying transaction. From the moment of the idea's conception through its completion, those two elements are all-important. If you are a potential home buyer, you should have real estate professionals at your side throughout that entire process. It should be one long tutorial and hand-holding session.
Your home buying process and search cannot be started in earnest until a PRE-QUALIFICATION OF MORTGAGE is conducted by a mortgage professional. In this present real estate market, that fact has never been more true. Pre-qualification simply needs to be done and accomplished first before any other portion of the process will get off the ground.
Danielle Pierce, ADPR, Jelani Realty Advisors, 11509 So. Elizabeth, Chicago, IL, has provided very clear-cut examples as to why this is true, both for those seeking to buy a home ... and agents looking to assist them to do so.
As Danielle points out, qualifying for a mortgage and buying a home is NOT as easy as it once was. Big changes have taken place within the mortgage industry's rules and regulations for applying and qualifying for a loan ... making the process much harder and a longer process. Pre-qualification is not a formality any longer and must be taken seriously.
Please ... take the time to read this post. If thinking of buying now or in the future, contact a professional lender. The sooner you start the process, the more quickly and smoothly your home buying transaction will proceed. If an agent, please advise your clients to be Pre-Qualified as soon as possible. It provides intelligent direction to home viewing choices ... and proves extremely time and effort-saving.
If I can provide any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me at any of the contact resources found here. I'll be happy to assist you however I can.
Gene
Okay, here's the deal! Buyers, if you want to buy a home, you need to contact a lender and get pre-approved! It's really that simple...The only exception to this is Buyers that have CASH!!!!!!
I used to blame so-called "inexperienced/rookie" agents for this epidemic. I can remember when I first started, like it was yesterday. I would take ANYONE, ANYWHERE and never even think to ask for a pre-approval!!! And, if I did think to ask for a pre-approval letter, I would be too afraid of opening my mouth. So, I would take my so-called "clients" to house after house after house...I did not close anything during those early months and I stopped hearing from a lot of my "clients." I quickly discovered after reaching out to more experienced agents, that this was definitely NOT the way to go!
So, here I am, years later and I continually bombarded with calls from people that do not have a pre-approval letter! When I do ask probing questions to try and find out why, here are some of the responses I get...
Me: So, you have not yet contacted a lender, do you have any idea what your credit score is?
Client: No, I have no idea whatsoever..
Me: I highly recommend shopping for a pre-approval prior to starting your home search.
Client: Really...I was going to contact a bank AFTER I located the property. I just wanted to get out and start looking first.
I could go on and on with examples, but you get the idea. Buyers, trying to shop for a home without a pre-approval makes no "cents!"
In fact, it can be a huge waste of your time and everyone else involved. Really, it all just boils down to plain old common sense....don't you WANT to know if you even qualify for a home? Don't you want to know the interest rate and other terms of your loan upfront? Don't you want to find out how much you qualify for, prior to searching for that dream home? And, if you don't qualify at the present time, don't you want someone to tell you what you need to do in order to get a loan?
The fact is, lending requirements have tightened considerably and it is not as easy as it used to be to qualify for financing. Given the declining housing prices, there may be considerable competition in your local market. If you want to be taken seriously as a Buyer, then contacting a lender is an absolute must!
Happy Hunting!
Gene Mundt, Sr. Vice President
Personal NMLS #216987
The Federal Savings Bank
1823 Centre Point Circle, Naperville, IL 60563
Now on Skype! 630-219-1316
