Things NOT to do when buying a house
Things not to do when buying a house
Generally in this blog you’ll read about what you need to do in order to get pre-approved, and what credit score/down payment/etc you need in order to make an offer. Today, however, we’ll list off some of the things you cannot or shouldn’t do, to help you prepare for your upcoming purchase. All of these come from real life experiences we have dealt with multiple times.
DO NOT buy a new car. We understand things happen and the need for a vehicle arises sometimes, but please check with your loan officer prior to applying for a car loan. You may even be able to do it, but not checking with your loan officer means you are putting the home purchase at risk!
DO NOT deposit large sums of money into your account. While it is common for many people to keep cash at home or what many call ‘mattress money”, we won’t be able to use large cash deposits as part of your qualifying funds. Lenders are required to follow the Patriot Act, which means we must “source” all deposits into your accounts. Since cash is unable to be sourced, this creates a very big problem for borrowers, especially when they were planning on relying on that cash to use for their down payment/closing costs.
DO NOT change jobs. While job changes are okay in some cases, your lender needs to know ahead of time in order to make sure that any change is feasible for the timeline of your home loan. Job changes can present many challenges, but as with many of these items your lender can often work around them.
DO NOT take days to respond to emails and phone calls/texts. When you are under contract it is up to the lender to ensure that you make the closing date on time, and no matter how diligent you are at providing documentation there is always a likelihood that more will be needed. The better the communication, the more likely an on time and successful closing!
These are just a few of the things not to do when applying for a mortgage, but there are many others. When you’re ready, be sure to talk to your lender in depth about your plans, and make sure that all of these items and more are discussed.
If you’d like to know more, or to get pre-approved, feel free to call or text Scott Lake at 360-649-2445
