First Time Home Buyer Advice

Some of the best first time home buyer advice that you can be given is that you need to find a lender who likes working with people like you. Different lenders, especially local banks, have different standards that they hold their borrowers to.

Some lenders just don't like first time buyers--they want people who have owned at least one home before. This makes them more confident in these people. They have more reason to believe, to their minds, that these people will pay them back and not default on their mortgages. But where does that leave the first time homey buyer? Out in the cold. But lenders do have a business to run.

That's why this advice is very helpful, it's like a pole giving direction. You can save yourself time by heeding the advice.

Choose a lender who works with first time home buyers.

Fortunately, there are other lenders who like to work with first time home loan borrowers. In fact, there are even some who make this a specialty of theirs. What you need to do is look around and find those that are strong lenders who haven't been burned by the mortgage industry collapse, and who make it a point to attract first time home buyers and work with them to secure for them the best loan they can give them.

Get pre-qualified.

Before you do any of this, you should get pre-qualified. This may be the best first time home buyer advice in existence. This allows you to know exactly how much money you can borrow and what your likely interest rate is. It usually doesn't cost a thing to get pre-qualified (I don't recommend lenders who charge for the applications, they may only be interested in the application fee and not in you.) You may have to pay for them to pull a credit report unless you have a current one they will use. Usually, though lenders like to pull their own. Be sure you get a copy of the credit report if the lender does pull one.

Gather all your documents.

Have all of the documents together that you would need if you were going to actually apply for the mortgage today: a very recent copy of your credit report; pay stubs/proof of income; bank and asset holding statements; tax returns; and documentation of your usual recurring monthly expenses like your car payments, utilities, etc.

Once you're pre-qualified it also means that sellers who want to see if you can buy their home don't have to wait for a couple of weeks to see if you'll be able to do business with them--in other words, they won't grow impatient and sell "your" home to someone else. If you are pre-qualified for a loan amount, you also have strong price negotiating power with sellers. You can prove to them that you qualify for such-and-such a loan amount and if they don't give you a fair deal you can always go elsewhere for a similar home.

Additional first time home buyer advice:

• Look online for lenders, who advertise that they offer great service to first time home buyers and welcome their business.

• Once you have a good list of these lenders, compare their loans to see who could get you the best deal.

• If possible, consider lenders who have a simple online application process.

• Download this guide to help you.

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