Best way to pay for purchase before closing?

[Anonymous]

We are scheduled to close tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, and are going to Lowes tonight to buy a whole bunch of stuff for the house- paint, painting supplies, tools, door for the garage, etc. 

We were supposed to close on Monday, and were probably going to open a cc to get the % off our purchase.  But, I know we shouldn't do that since we haven't closed yet...   We'll save that for our next big purchase.

We have a babysitter lined up, this is our only time to shop together before we start painting on Sat- and we have a crew of friends coming to help Sat morning.  I work days, dh works nights, so this is it.  This weekend is his only weekend off for a few weeks too.

So- how do we pay for our purchase (probably between $500-1000)???  Credit card with high limit and low balance?  Savings?  Check- if they will take it for that much money!!!  Maybe half check, half credit card?  I don't want to mess anything up!

Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Oh- and I get paid tomorrow morning (midnight-ish- direct deposit) for about 1100, so if they looked at my bank info tomorrow, the money would be back in my checking.

[Anonymous]

We close on our house Thursday at 1:00pm.  Our loan officer told us to do absolutely nothing with our credit cards until after the loan funds!  Not just the closing, but when the loan is actually funded which is within 1-3 days, and is different then your closing date.

Also, if your savings and checking amounts (reserves)  were considered in your loan approval and weighed heavily toward your loan approval, depleting them may have an adverse effect.

If I was you, I would call your loan officer, explain your situation, and see what he/she advises.

BTW, the bank can pull your credit again right up until the closing.  If something reports differently (and we are getting to the end of the month when things will be updating) it could mean a difference.

Just my thoughts, hope it helps.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, that makes sense.  I asked about proof of reserves (from my 403B) and our loan officer said that reserves were not required with our FHA loan.  Also, our preapproval was based on much less in savings. 

[Anonymous]

We are doing a conventional loan, so I am not very familiar with their (FHA) particular requirements.

Good luck and congrats on the new house!

Message Edited by kmcmillan on 04-29-2008 11:01 AM

[DallasLoanGuy]

I have let some clients purchase stuff like this and I told others not o.

My point? If your credit profile can take it, why not? Go ahead and get that Lowes card with 0% interest....

I wouldn't bat an eye at buying a car or racking up $2K at Lowes during a mortgage because I buy well below my means(housing) and have high FICOs. Is this good advice for everyone? No.

My other point? Only your loan officer knows.

[Anonymous]

Just checked with my mb- he said okay, as long as I did not open any new credit.