How early should you start to look into Pre-Approval?
I know we were always taught to “never say never” however when it comes to the home buying process, especially in the hot Colorado market, in our opinion it is never too early to start exploring your options. No matter your timeline of buying a home it can always be good to go thru the pre-approval process whether you want to go out looking at homes this weekend or waiting 6 to 12 months down the road and beyond.
Of course, it behooves you to get the pre-approval process soon if you are looking to purchase sooner versus later. That being said I have seen many borrowers want to set themselves up to buy down the road. In this case the best thing you can do is to have your lender review all the necessary financials (paystubs, W2’s, Tax Returns, bank statements) and your credit report; this way when you sit down to review the pre-approval with your Loan Officer and potential down payment & monthly payment options you will have a much clearer idea of what you may need to do in order to put yourself in the best possible situation when that time comes. These items can range from:
1- Knowing how much more money you need to save (or you may be pleasantly surprised you already have enough saved)
2- Knowing what to work on to get your credit scores in a more favorable position (better scores can open up more loan options)
3- Give you the time to pay off that debt so you can have better peace of mind when buying
These are only a few ideas and benefits to this as I truly believe that you cannot be overly prepared to buy a house, especially if it is your first home. Who knows, the longer the process takes, you might just learn more and by the time you are ready to hit the “GO” button and find that dream home you will be so prepared that you will only have to stress about moving and not stressing about the loan at that point.
The best thing you can do if you are contemplating buying a home is to talk to a trusted lender, discuss your timeline and budget; from there together you can set up a rock-solid plan to make it all happen, you may be surprised how quickly the time goes while preparing yourself for buying a home.
