Author: Connie Bolin Added: August 11, 2008
If you are ready to purchase a new Seattle home it is important to learn as much as you can about the Seattle home loans that are available to you, the Seattle real estate market, and Seattle real estate agents before you begin your search for a new home in Seattle. There are a few things that you should do before you begin your search for a lender, that will help ensure that you are prepared to begin the process of finding and financing your new home. The first thing of course would be to obtain a copy of your credit report and review the information in it. Work on correcting any information that is incorrect or outdated in the report. To get a copy of your credit report there are three major credit-reporting companies that you need to contact. They are: Experian By web: www.experian.com PO Box 2104 Allen, TX 75013-2104 30374-0421 Phone: 1-888-397-3742 Trans Union Corporation By web: www.transunion.com Consumer Disclosure Center PO Box 390 Springfield, PA 19064-0390 Phone: 1-800-888-4213 Equifax By web: www.equifax.com PO Box 740241 Atlanta,GA Phone: 1-800-997-2493 Your FICO, or credit score, is one of the most important factors used by lenders. When you apply for a Seattle home mortgage loan, your lender will contact the top three major credit-reporting agencies and use all three reports to determine which home loans you can qualify for. Secondly you should decide realistically what type of Seattle home you are in the market for. Decide how large your home needs to be, how many rooms to include bedrooms and bathrooms do you need, what tpye of neighborhood is important to meet your families needs, what part of the Seattle area would you like to live, etc. What type of property are you looking for, do you want a home that is on its own lot, or will a townhouse or condominium suit your needs? All of these factors will determine how much you will be paying for the home itself. The third thing you should do is determine how much you can afford to pay on a monthly basis for your home. To do this figure out your monthly budget, how much income you bring in and subtract how much you pay out for monthly bills. There are many places on the web that you can go that offer calculators to help you figure out your monthly budget, try searching for " figure household budget" to find one of these web sites. Your monthly home payment should not exceed 28% of your monthly income. This is generally the rule that lenders will use to determine how much you can afford on your home loan. The fourth thing you should do is research all the first time buyer programs and down payment assistance programs available in your area, to determine which of these programs you may qualify for. In the Seattle area, Washington Home-ownership Center or (WHC) has a website that offers allot of good information on the types of programs available. One of the most important things that you will want to do is find a Seattle real estate agent with a good reputation to help you search and find the perfect home for you. Keep in mind that the agent will be working for you. A good agent will keep you informed of the process, will keep your needs as the top priority for their search requirements, and will work at finding the best home for you. Interview several prospective candidates, choose an agent that you can talk to easily, that can offer references you can follow up on, and one that can answer your questions easily. When you have a good agent working for you you can be sure that they will be searching for the best Seattle home and Seattle home mortgage available for your needs. There are also many free courses available that help you learn and understand the home buying procedure. Taking advantage of some of these courses is one way to ensure that you are well informed about Seattle mortgage loans, the Seattle home buying procedure, and will help you know what questions you should be asking. Follow these steps and you will find that purchasing your new home will not be as confusing or stressful as you might think. Happy home hunting!
--- Connie Bolin is a writer for Atnetworld and Ezfinder. She does extensive research on the 50 largest cities in the US and finds what makes them unique, Seattle is just one of them. Seattle is one of her favorite cites due to its beautiful location, educational programs and great employment opportunities.
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