Buying a Home in February

[resilient]

Good day all. I am new to the Mortgage side and hoping to be a first time buyer, just crossed over from the credit card forums (spent a little over a year there). I am going to buy a house around the February/April time frame in Georgia, thinking about getting a 15 year since rates are much lower. I am looking for any advice available. Here is where I am at. I have talked to a real estate agent, and am going to look at some homes next weekend. I have not spoken to any lenders, yet, ut I have a few in mind, as I bank with PenFed, Chase, TIC FCU (local) and BofA. She also gave me a contact to Wells Fargo. I have a median score of around 715, no collections, baddies, all positive account history. I have quite a few inquiries on my EQ, which is keeping it down to 700, but the others aren't that bad, with less than 12 inquiries. My income is $87k gross, credit history is 13 years with 5.3 years AAoA, from the new card accounts i've opened since September 2012. I carry have about 7% utilization on my credit lines ( total limits $140k ). I have about $17k remaining on student loans, and a $600 installment loan for my car. I have not applied for anything since September 9 this year, in hopes of keeping the inquiries down for 6 months. How is my picture I'm painting to the bank? I don't want to get preapproval until mid month to early December. This is because I want to pursue some short sale homes in the area, and I know they usualy take longer, but would like to lock my rate in. Also, I am a service member and will be using my VA eligibility for it as well. Someone please point me in the right direction. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Booner72]

Usually, real estate agents won't waste their time unless you are preapproved. Also, if you get preapproved, you know how much you can qualify for, and will find out ahead of time if there are any credit issues.

I used Academy Mortgage, and loved them. They funded the loan, then turned around and sold it to Wells Fargo. I live in Oregon but they are in most states. If you happen to live in OR, PM me and I will give you the name of my LO.

Basically, start by getting prequalified. You can also take your 3 in 1 credit report to other lenders and see what they say and answer questions, basically, shop around. Word of mouth is best to find a lender, I think. Good Luck!

[resilient]

Sorry for the late reply and thanks for your response. Preapproved and closed on February 7th! Thanks forum!

[Mrs_hambright]

Can you post your timeline?

[resilient]

Sorry for the late response, but yes I can!. November 7, I got a preapproval from Wells Fargo, with 713 being the middle score (after three years of rebuilding through the forums). I put a contract on the house I wanrted about a week later. They required the normal- tax returns, bank statements, VA Certificate of Eligibility, and updating the credit reports towards closing (with a business who just calls your creditors to verify account balances and payments). I was away in Oklahoma, but the home I purchased was in Georgia, so all of this one done through fax, mail, and email. There was maybe one full week of heavy paperwork (loan application, sending in documents I had already sent in, etc), but that was it for me! The closing coordinator and mortgage rep told me that my home had been VA inspected late January once the house was finished, and that we were cleared to close! I had orders to move back to Georgia and I left on the 7th of February, and I notified them about three days before (closing originally scheduled on the 10th), and they let me close on the 7th! Were there any specifics you were looking for?