Tips For First-Time Home Buyers

As a first-time homebuyer, you are eligible for many programs offered by mortgage companies and the government. An often-overlooked resource for the first-time buyer is their local county government or municipality. Many counties in the United States offer incentives for first-time home buyers. Those incentives include down payment assistance and grants – free money for buying a home if you meet their requirements. As well, some governments, in conjunction with local mortgage companies, offer reduced interest rates for the first-time buyer. Some mortgage companies even offer relaxed lending standards to help increase your chances of being approved.

Many organizations offer free home buying seminars that outline the ramifications of homeownership. It would be wise to attend such a seminar, as ignorance can be extremely costly in the long run. People have been through situations as dire as foreclosure because they were not prepared for the realities of being a homeowner. What’s more, some mortgage companies require you to attend these seminars in order to qualify for first-time homebuyer programs.

To take advantage of these offers, check with your county’s department of housing. In many cases, they can send you a packet that outlines all of their available programs, as well as the guidelines for qualifying for the programs.

While you check into these government resources, you should also order a “tri-merge” credit report. A tri-merge credit report refers to a single report that contains the information from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. Those three are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The tri-merge report will also contain your credit scores from all three bureaus.

When it comes to the world of mortgage lending, credit scores determine almost everything. Your score determines things such as how much money you can borrow, how much documentation you need to present to the lender, what your interest rate will be, and how much money you have to pay up front (the down payment).

People have a tendency to believe things that are written, even if factually incorrect. When it comes to reading your credit report, you must scrutinize every single entry with a jaundiced eye. Just about every piece of information you see on your credit report factors into your credit score in some way. Therefore, it is crucial that you make a note of any errors in your report so that they can be corrected.

There are many techniques you can use to boost your credit score. There are even some methods that can boost your score overnight. Regardless of the methods you use, make sure that you do everything possible to raise your scores. By doing so, you’ll be in a fantastic position to be able to take advantage of any great offers that come your way.

When buying a home for the first time, the most important thing to remember is that you are never alone. Utilize the resources outlined here, and you’ll find the process much less intimidating than you imagined.