The U.S. housing market is now completely flooded with unsold homes and its truly a buyers market with bargains galore. While this may not be the best time to get into a home on a speculative basis, it has been years since there was a better time to buy the dream home that you have always wanted to live in. With prices so low and home sellers so willing to bargain many people just like you have decided that now is the time to buy.
Low Interest Rates
However; if you have been watching the news, you must know that lenders are looking at loan applicants far more closely and have raised the bar when it comes to qualifying for the best home loans. This is not to say that a home loan is out of reach though, because in fact, interest rates are still quite low.
Credit Counts Now
What is does mean, is that you are going to have to do your homework and make some preparations before you set out to secure a home loan that you can afford. Credit ratings are now more important then they were in the past and with so many lenders sitting on foreclosed homes, they are loath to lend out money to people with bad credit.
Get Organized
Your first move should be to get organized. This means that you should gather together and create a file of all relevant forms that you might need. This would also include any paperwork that pertains to any accounts that you may have had revert to collections.
Examine Your Credit Reports Closely
Another priority should be to examine closely all three of your credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies in the U.S. They are obligated by law to provide each citizen with one, once a year on demand. The reason that you will need all three, is because surprisingly, they can each differ with regards to the information that they contain. The most common mistake made on credit reports is negative information that has surpassed its seven year time limitation.
