Buying a house is one of the most significant financial decisions anyone can make. The process itself can be both exciting and overwhelming due to the various factors that need to be considered, such as affordability, location, financing options, and most notably, economic conditions. With the current state of the economy, the possibility of a recession has caused panic amongst potential homebuyers. However, it’s still very possible to buy a house during difficult economic times.
Below, we’ll walk you through a few key steps you should follow if you’re interested in buying a home in the current market.
Assess Your Finances Carefully
The affordability of buying a home will depend on several factors such as your credit score, savings, debt-to-income ratio, and monthly expenses. Before you consider taking out a mortgage or applying for any other loans, assess your finances carefully. If you’re an RMLEFCU member, you can easily access and review your balances and transaction history in your RMLEFCU app. In addition, if you’d like to check out your credit score, check out our SavvyMoney extension on your RMLEFCU app. SavvyMoney will inform you of your credit score, spending habits, and more.
Get Preapproved for A Mortgage
Next, it’s probably a good idea to speak with your credit union about getting preapproved for a mortgage. Preapproval is as close as you can get to confirming your creditworthiness without having a purchase contract in place. Let us explain—a mortgage pre-approval isn’t a promise that you’ll get a loan for the home you want to buy. A mortgage pre-approval only means your lender has looked at your finances—your income, debt, assets, and credit history—and determined how much money you can borrow, how much you could pay per month, and what your interest rate will be.
Don’t Be Afraid to Shop for the Best Mortgage Rates
It’s always a good idea to shop around for the lowest mortgage rate you can get your hands on. At RMLEFCU, we offer some pretty impressive mortgage offerings for our members. With us, you’d be able to enjoy the following:
Easier Down Payments: We offer 95% LTV, or loan to value, for first-time homeowners (or only 5% down)*
Lower Monthly Payments: Yep, you read that right! With RMLEFCU, you’ll be able to enjoy no PMI, or Private Mortgage Insurance. This means that is you take out a $300,000 loan, you’ll save over $200 a month.**
Great 30-Year Rates: Visit mortgagewebcenter.com to check out our amazing rates.***
Ready to Take the Leap?
If you’ve taken all three of these steps and are feeling good about taking out a mortgage to buy your next home, rest assured that you don’t have to go through the home buying process alone. Our team would be more than happy to give you a hand. Stop by one of our branches to speak with one of our representatives, give us a call at (303) 458-6660, or visit our website for more information.
* 95% LTV — Loan to Value — for first-time buyers means you can borrow up to 95% of the value of your home.
** PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) for a conventional home loan ranges from 0.58% to 1.86% (nerdwallet.com)
*** With approved credit. Rates subject to change. Some restrictions may apply.