Sometimes financial decisions seem easy and obvious but sometimes these same financial decisions are not that obvious and sort of complicated. Once in a while these decisions are actually quite tricky. When you are buying a home, many of the financial decisions you make can hurt you without you even realizing it. I was talking with a neighbor who is in the middle of buying a house and quite a few of these financial decisions came up in our conversation. Some of these ideas are obvious but some are things you may not have thought about. Everything considered, home-buying financial decisions are some of the most important you can make.
Most important home-buying financial decisions are easy to spot but there are a few simple ones that can ruin the home buying process if you aren’t careful. A few of these home-buying financial decisions are:
Don’t miss payments
It seems pretty obvious that you should miss or be late on a payment while in the process of buying a home. It isn’t something most people would do intentionally. In the chaos of buying a house and moving, it can be easy to miss a bill or misplace a payment.
Don’t change jobs
Even a move up may be detrimental to a loan application. Lenders are looking for financial stability which they see in the amount of years you have worked at your current job.
Don’t change banks
Banking stability is another sign of financial stability that lenders examine in the loan process. Avoid switching banks when you will be applying for a home loan in the near future.
Don’t make surprise large deposits
Unusual large deposits is something that can raise flags when it comes to banking stability. The money for your down payment should be in your bank a couple of months before you apply for a loan.
Don’t apply for a new card
Avoid applying for a new credit card when you are applying for a home loan. New credit cards equal new potential debt. Most lenders feel new debt could decrease your ability to pay your mortgage.
Don’t finance a car
Wait until after you purchase your home if you need to finance your new car purchase. Taking on new debt will change your debt to income ratio and may make you ineligible for certain loans or loan perks.
Don’t finance big ticket items
Just like when buying a car, wait until after you purchase your home if you need to finance a large purchase. Furniture, electronics, cell phones, you name it – avoid financing it until after you buy our home.
Don’t cosign on a loan
Cosigning on a loan will affect your debt to income ratio just like if it was you who took on the new debt alone. When you cosign a loan you can be held responsible for making the payments. Lenders look at this as your debt.
These are just a few of the important home-buying financial decisions you need to remember when buying a home. Have some more home-buying financial decisions to add? Let us know. We love hearing from you!