Buyers, Please Go To The Bank Before You Start Looking At Properties!!!

I really thought it was common knowledge by now that when you want to buy real estate the place to start is the bank. The first thing we do is go to the bank to get pre-qualified, right? But very few "buyers" who have called me in the last year or two have done that. Just yesterday I talked to a gentleman who just recently lost his home to foreclosure. He said the mortgage was just in his name, so now they are looking to buy a house in just his wife's name. He was calling about a specific property and wanted directions so they could go look at it. He said he didn't know if his wife would qualify for a home loan based on her income alone or not.

Buyers - please, please go to the bank and get pre-qualified before you call an agent to look at properties. If you don't, you are very likely to find a property you love and then find out you are unable to buy it. On top of that, sellers these days want a copy of the qualification letter attached to offers on their property - and I would too, wouldn't you? The man I mentioned above was concerned about the bank pulling credit and turning them down, then he'd have to go to another bank and they'd pull credit too, lowering the credit score. My feeling is that if you go to a reputable lender in today's market and they turn you down, the search should stop there. Bouncing around from lender to lender till you find someone who will approve you is partly what got us in the mess we are in.

So, the moral of this post is "Do your homework BEFORE you look at homes." Put the time in up front to determine 1) whether you are in a position to buy a home or not, 2) what price range you need to be looking in, and 3) what type of loan you qualify for and how much out of pocket money you need. If you don't know a good lender, make that call to the agent - but instead of asking to look at properties, ask them to help you get pre-qualified.

This is just common sense, folks, be smart and go into the home buying process with your eyes open, armed with the confidence that you are indeed able to purchase a home by working with your lender FIRST - you want to have an awareness of where your financial comfort zone is so you are not facing foreclosure as well.