Shop for Mortgages BEFORE You Shop for House?
As I explained to you all in the last few posts, I am currently going through the first time home buying experience, and boy oh boy, what a ride it has been! Now, don’t get me wrong, up until now it’s been a somewhat smooth process, but we’ve had to deal with some less than thrilled sellers who feel they did not get the price the house is worth, and we’re dealing with not getting everything we want from them, but that is to be expected I guess in this market when almost everyone probably feels their house is being sold for less than it’s “worth”.
One of the things that surprised us in this whole home buying and house shopping experience, and something that I really should have read up on before I delved into the whole process wholeheartedly and not really knowing much about the mortgage process, is that you should really shop around for your mortgage before you even start shopping for your home. Check a mortgage calculator to make sure the monthly payments will fit in to your budget comfortably.
The reason for this somewhat counterintuitive order of things is that most people (like us) find a house that may or may not be out of their price range, or the range of a mortgage loan that a mortgage lender is willing to give them based on their income. Shopping for the mortgage beforehand not only gives you a solid idea about the price range you should be shopping in, but it also may give you a little more bargaining power, if you are preapproved for a certain loan amount. Just remember, shop for the mortgage first, then home shop - it really is probably the smartest order to do things in.
