How to Find The Best Mortgage Deals

Learn how to find the best mortgage deals.

Buying a home is the largest purchase that most people ever make.

The size of the purchase is matched by the effort you will need to put into preparing your personal finances and creditworthiness before you schedule an appointment with a mortgage broker.

If you follow the following steps ahead of time, you will be in a much better position to find the best mortgage deals.

You should allow yourself at least six to eight weeks of preparation before approaching a lender.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Credit Reports
• FICO Scores
• Paycheck Stubs
• Tax Returns
• Bank Statements

1. Take action to get your credit reports, and look for any items that need to be taken off or amended. By cleaning up your credit report, your credit score should increase. Your credit score is extremely important when trying to find the best mortgage deals. Start by reporting any errors to the agencies and disputing all your negative marks. Pay down your credit cards, but do not close the accounts. Closed accounts can sometimes lower your credit score. (see resources area below for a link to a reputable company)

2. Mortgage applications require a large amount of your personal financial information. You need to have all of your documents in order and ready for inspection before applying for a mortgage. Examples of the types of documents you should have when you apply for a mortgage include pay check stubs, tax returns, bank statements, credit card bills, and any other loans you may have. The more time you spend organizing all of your financial documents, the less time your application will spend being processed.

3. Take a look at your spending, and determine how much you can pay every month for a mortgage. If you are having a difficult time paying your current rent, and your mortgage lender says that you can qualify for a mortgage that would require a much higher payment, you will have to give some serious consideration about taking on a higher loan payment.

4. Prior to applying for a mortgage make sure you have your updated FICO scores. This way you won't have to have your credit report pulled by numerous mortgage brokers. The last thing you need is a bunch of inquiries causing your score to drop.

5. Once you have your credit report, FICO scores, and all of your documents ready to go it's time to start looking around for mortgage brokers. The first place to start is with your bank and any credit unions in your area. Make sure to let them know you don't want your report pulled and to give you a good faith quote based on your documents in hand.

6. Next, to help narrow down the best mortgage deals you will want to call around to mortgage brokers in the area and get quotes on their rates. Always ask for a break down of all costs when getting an estimate.

7. Lastly, be sure to not make any major changes while applying for a mortgage. These include job changes, new credit lines, new credit cards, etc. Any of these will adversely affect your chances of getting the best mortgage deals.

8. While you're here be sure to take a look around for more information and tips on finding the best mortgage deals.

Resources

• Get a copy of your FICO score and credit report