If you’re thinking of buying a home, your first step should be to talk to a mortgage professional.
From time to time, friends and family ask me an important real estate question: “What's the first step I have to take when buying a house?”
My answer is to talk to a mortgage professional. The reason I recommend doing this is they’ll look at your finances, credit score, income, and debt, and tell you what you can qualify to buy and what your monthly mortgage payment will be. If you don’t qualify for a mortgage, they’ll tell you why and formulate a plan to help you eventually buy a home. Whether you’re buying in six months, a year, or some time beyond that, talk to a mortgage professional way in advance.
Also, don’t disqualify yourself. A lot of people convince themselves they don’t qualify because their credit score isn’t that great, or they haven’t been at the same job for two consecutive years, or they have student debt, etc. Once we have these people meet with a mortgage professional, though, you’d be surprised at how many of them do qualify. Or if they still don’t qualify, they only need to do one simple thing to change that.
Even if you’re not planning on buying a home until the next year or so, if you talk to a loan officer and get qualified now, you can pull the trigger if you come across a killer deal on the market.
One of the reasons I’ve been able to build a $7 million real estate portfolio and purchase 41 properties is I’m always ready. Each time I buy a property, I ask a loan officer what I have to do to purchase the next one. I may not be financially (or emotionally) ready at the time to make that purchase, but I do know what I have to do to get there.
"I recommend getting yourself ready now so you can pull the trigger the moment you see a good opportunity."
Early last year, I told my wife to refinance some of our investment properties and pull whatever equity we could from them. When she asked why, I told her that I wanted to be in position if a good opportunity arises. At that time, nothing on the market caught my eye, but shortly afterward, a 25-unit apartment in Oxford came on the market. We were able to take the initiative ahead of time, make an offer for it, and close on it.
A lot of people wait until they see a good opportunity to start the qualification process, but I recommend getting yourself ready now so you can pull the trigger the moment you see a good opportunity.
In my case, had I not refinanced some of my properties beforehand, I might not have been as confident making an offer for that apartment complex because I wouldn’t have known how much equity I could gather. Not only that, but I might’ve lost out on it to someone ready to buy.
If you’re anything like me, you want to be ready when a good opportunity comes along, so talk to a mortgage professional now and make sure you don’t miss out on a great home.
As always, if you have any questions about buying, selling, or investing in Ventura County real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Morales Group. I’m here to help. I also invite you to visit my blog or Facebook page. Make it a great day!
