There is much help available today if you want to buy a home but you will want to consider the following.
First you need to determine how much home you can afford. So how do you do that? A good rule of thumb is that you can only afford to buy a home that is equal in price to approximately three times your gross annual income. So for guys like me who work on commission that can be a moving target!
Secondly and to be more exact you should consider these six factors: 1.) income; 2.) the amount of cash you have available for a down payment, closing costs, and the cash reserves required by your lender; 3.) credit history (your credit history smart guy not your lender); 4.) the type of mortgage; 5.) outstanding debt; 6.) current interest rates. I did pretty well on this list until number 5…ugh!
The long and short is that you should get pre-qualified or pre-approved with your personal lender for a home loan. They can help you find out how much home you can buy and in the end it makes you a more credible buyer. And the more credible you are the better you can negotiate.
We continue to be blessed as our drought conditions have been all but taken care of with the many inches of rain received in September and October. There isn’t a dry pair of shoes in my closet.
Have a great weekend and plan to come up and see us in beautiful Sawyer County!
Life is Good, Enjoy!
Gary and Amanda
