{"id":692,"date":"2017-12-01T01:38:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T01:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/?p=692"},"modified":"2017-12-01T01:38:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T01:38:48","slug":"three-good-reasons-to-visit-a-lender-before-youre-ready-to-buy-a-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/01\/three-good-reasons-to-visit-a-lender-before-youre-ready-to-buy-a-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Three good reasons to visit a lender before you\u2019re ready to buy a home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/iStock-653071742.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-693\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/iStock-653071742-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Father In Autumn Garden Gives Children Ride In Wheelbarrow\" width=\"473\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/iStock-653071742-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/iStock-653071742-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/iStock-653071742-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re dreaming of buying a home but know that you are not yet in a position to do so, visiting a lender is probably the farthest thing from your mind.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time to re-think that idea.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s a good idea to go ahead and visit your lender even when you think:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your credit isn\u2019t so good<\/li>\n<li>Your income isn\u2019t high enough<\/li>\n<li>You have too much debt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Why? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Because your lender can show you exactly where you stand and help you overcome those issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Start with your credit.<\/strong> One of the first things your loan officer will do is look at your credit score, your credit history, your monthly liabilities, your income, and your assets. In other words, they\u2019ll examine your entire financial picture.<\/p>\n<p>If your scores are too low to qualify for a mortgage \u2013 or too low to qualify for a good interest rate \u2013 they can show you where and how to improve. Your lender knows which debts are causing the biggest drain on your scores.\u00a0 He or she can advise you on which debts to pay off first, and let you know if there\u2019s something there that will force you to wait another year or two.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If your income is a problem,<\/strong> your lender will let you know how much more you need to earn in order to qualify for the home you want. Or \u2013 he or she can tell you just how much you can spend per month on a home, and what that translates to in terms of home prices.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you have too much debt<\/strong>, your loan officer can help you go over your monthly spending habits and find ways to reduce that debt. The fact is, for every dollar of debt you have, you must have two dollars of income to offset it when making a loan application. In addition, if more than 15% of your income is going to consumer debt, you\u2019ll have to bring it down in order to qualify for a mortgage loan.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, it\u2019s worth your while to stop charging and start paying off those bills.<\/p>\n<p>A lender can also advise you on whether or not bringing in a cosigner would be a good idea.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Go ahead and make that appointment with a lender.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tell him or her up front that you don\u2019t think you\u2019re ready, but you\u2019d like help in getting there.\u00a0 If the lender isn\u2019t willing to talk with you on those terms, find a different one. The truth is, a good lender can be your strongest ally in your quest to own a home.<\/p>\n<p>Here at Homewood Mortgage, the Mike Clover Group, we\u2019re always willing to talk with future home owners, and always willing to give advice and guidance. So please feel free to call.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, why not call right now, before you forget.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Call today:<\/strong> <strong>469.621.8484<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-530\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande-300x183.jpg\" alt=\"mike-clover-group-email-signature-muy-grande\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande.jpg 405w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re dreaming of buying a home but know that you are not yet in a position to do so, visiting a lender is probably the farthest thing from your mind. It\u2019s time to re-think that idea. It\u2019s a good &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/01\/three-good-reasons-to-visit-a-lender-before-youre-ready-to-buy-a-home\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions\/694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}