Qualifying for a Home Loan can be intimidating. It seems like an impossible feat at times but it’s not! Everyone can qualify with these tips. Here’s how we did it.

Owning a home is an iconic American Dream. Unfortunately, it’s one that we’ve learned to feel is going to be forever out of our reach. Everyone has to work for it, unless you were born with that silver spoon! For the rest of us, here are the tips that enabled us to achieve our dream of home ownership!

While we haven’t paid it off yet, we are on the path! You can get on this path too!

When we decided it was time, we weren’t quite prepared. However, in just a couple of years with hard work we were able to not only be ready, but to buy our first home!

Qualifying for Your Home Loan

First step: Check Your Credit!

Everyone is entitled to a free credit check. Run the check and get yours. Don’t be intimidated, it’s the perfect way to find out where you stand. Whether it’s super low or not, it’s not an ending. Only the beginning! It’s easy to freak out and give up, but don’t. That score will not smash your dreams of qualifying for a home loan!

On that Note…

Step 2: Fix it!

If you have things on your credit hurting you, think before you act! Don’t immediately get out the check book, know that simply paying off old debts is not the answer. Check out this post (here at the Zoo) for free ways to properly repair your credit. Every time something on your credit is touched, it adds an additional 7 years to be on your credit. Even paying something off will leave it as a negative mark for another 7 years. Doesn’t make any sense, but it is what it is right?

Getting Negative marks off Your Credit:

There are two Ways to get things off your credit without them damaging your credit further: Pay for Delete and a Goodwill Letter for Late Payments. Click the delete for form letters you can utilize.

With Pay for Delete, you are basically, you are sending a certified letter to the creditor with a promise to pay a portion of your debt in exchange for them to completely remove it from your credit report. Just make sure that whatever you offer, when they respond you have the cash to mail that check!

Goodwill letters are for when you have some late payments on your credit. It’s a letter to your creditor (such as credit cards, personal loan collectors, utility bills, etc) to let them know that while you hit a rough patch, thus causing a mistake in your payment history and would like to both assure and promise that it won’t happen again. Thus, you are requesting forgiveness shown through it being removed from your credit. This one, we did not try. I’d love to hear if anyone has had any success with it.

Step 3: Work History

One thing you want to have when searching for your home loan is a good work history. It reflects to creditors that you are responsible and that you are stable. If you run your own business, don’t worry. There are actually people that specialize in this, such as this company that does loans for self employed loans Tampa! It’s always out there, you just have to look!

Step 4: Savings!

While everything is going on, make sure your savings are adequate. Save up not only a significant amount to put on the down payment, make sure you have enough saved for unforeseen expenses when you purchase your home. We ended up having to live in our rental for longer than expected due to those fun little surprises. Make sure you have plenty in the bank, not to mention it looks great to creditors that you’ll have a security to help ensure you can pay your mortgage payment!

Step 5: Research Your Options

Getting the credit fixed may take some time, but that’s okay. You want to make sure that whatever loan you go with fits your families needs. For crying out loud, do not EVER get a loan where the interest rate can change or where you’ll have a balloon payment! After a few years, if the interest rate you’ve gotten isn’t working just refinance. But at least you can budget effectively!