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Good Home Buying Tips

Welcome to the home buying market! This is an exciting time to be purchasing a home, with an array of new homes coming onto the market these is some excellent value to be found. All it takes is a little time and effort in looking and you can find your dream home for a dream price. But you should always be a smart buyer. There are those out there that will take advantage of someone who is eager to buy so, if you do your homework; the deals will follow.

The first thing you should do is get your finances in order. This involves finding out your credit score, fixing any outstanding issues affecting your credit, ensuring that these are properly released from your report, and finally securing your mortgage before you start looking. When I say secure your finances I do mean being pre-approved fully, this is different from a pre-qualification in that a pre-qualification does not “secure” you any amount of money, it is simply a judgment of whether or not you qualify to receive a mortgage.

Next, start working with a realtor that knows the area you are looking to buy in. This is a huge step so be prepared to move from merely wanting a home, to actively looking for one. Sit down with your realtor and make a list of things you require in a home. This is a list of those things that you can absolutely not be without. Once this is compiled, then list the things that you would like. With these lists ready, its time to start looking at homes. Your realtor should be able to provide you with a complete list of homes that fit your criteria, and some that come close. Also, they will be able to guide you to properties that fit your pre-approved mortgage amount.

After finding a home or homes that suit you make sure to have a certified inspector take a thorough look through the home. Have them check all questionable areas of the home. Don’t forget to have the inspector check for mold as this is something that is often overlooked. If the home passes the inspection than carry on with the offer if you are so inclined. If it doesn’t then either continue shopping, or utilize the necessary repairs as a bargaining point. Usually you should be able to have the cost of these repairs deducted from the cost of the home. It’s a good idea to bring in your own contractor or expert to get these estimates. By doing this you know that everything is above-board.

Buying a home is a huge process and one that you must be careful to handle with all due care and attention. Such an important investment can benefit you financially for years to come as well as providing safety and financial security. Don’t sell yourself short on what you buy as your home. After all, your family deserves the best don’t they?

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Buyer Tips, Real Estate Tips

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Four Real Estate Investment Tips, that you can learn from Warren Buffet, and other Stock Investors

Some of the most successful stock investors ever have based their investing principles on value investing. Investors such as Benjamin Graham, Irving Kahn, and Warren Buffet, have used value investing to build vast empires of wealth.

Value investing was conceived by Benjamin Graham, and David Dodd, in their classic book, “Security Analysis”, written in 1934. Although they were talking about stocks, there is still a lot to be learnt from value investing that can be applied to other investment vehicles. This article will show four things that real-estate investors can learn from value investing…

1: Investing vs Speculating – In value investing, it’s important to make the distinction between being an investor, and being a speculator. In “Security Analysis”, it is defined as this:

“An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principle and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative”.

So, there are 3 things needed for something to be an investment: – You need to have done thorough analysis. – You need to be reasonably sure that you won’t lose your money. – You need to be reasonably sure that you will make some money.

In terms of real-estate, this means that just buying and selling real-estate, does NOT make you an investor. If you’re buying properties at random, just because there is a boom and all property is going up in value, you are not investing. You are speculating.

There is nothing wrong with speculating, you just need to be aware when you are speculating, versus when you are investing.

2: Value vs Quality – Value Investing doesn’t really have any formulas, or rules. It is more of a theory, with some general principles. Because of this, there are many ways to do value investing, and different ways to apply it.

Benjamin Graham focused on buying stocks significantly below value, with little emphasis in the quality of the stock, in regards to their long term prospects.

This can be a useful strategy for a real estate investor, particularly when they are first starting out, and need to build up equity fast.

Warren Buffet still looks at the value of a stock, but puts a lot more emphasis on the quality of the stock. He only buys stocks that he thinks have good long-term prospects, with a bright future in front of them.

This is generally a good strategy for real-estate investors to move to later on, when they have built up their portfolio. Long term, well-chosen property will make significantly more capital growth than poorly chosen property, and may be worth buying even if it can only be bought at market value.

And with commercial real estate investment, it may be worth getting a lower rental yield, if this means you can have a high quality tenant, who will pay the rent reliably. This is a strategy that famous New Zealand commercial real estate investor Bob Jones has applied, with great success.

3: Margin Of Safety -“One of the most important principles in value investing is a margin of safety”.

Margin of Safety is the idea of making sure that you only invest if your calculations show that there is a significant profit to be made. There is no way your analysis can be 100% accurate, so the margin of safety gives you a buffer, to use when your calculations are slightly off, or you get worse than average luck, or any number of unexpected problems occur.

So when estimating the value of a stock, you use conservative estimates for earnings etc, to come up with the value. If your estimated value comes in at $10, then you don’t buy the stock if it’s currently selling for $9.75, because it’s too risky, and if your calculations are off, you wont be buying a bargain. If the price is currently $6 though, you might buy it, because you have a $4 margin of safety to use if you estimated incorrectly.

The same principle applies to real-estate.

Suppose you are looking at a deal, and you find you can buy some land for $100,000 and you can build a 4-bedroom house on it for $150,000.

If new 4-bedroom houses in the area are selling for $270,000 then should you do the deal? Theoretically, it will only cost you $250,000 to buy/build with a sale at $270,000 so you should make $20,000 profit.

But that isn’t much margin of safety. What if building costs blow out, and it cost more than $150,000 to build? What if you can’t sell it straight away so you have some holding costs? What if the other 4-bedroom houses in the area have much better kitchens than you realized, and you can actually only sell for $245,000?

There are a lot of unknowns here, and because your margin of safety is so small, unless everything goes right, you can quickly find yourself making a loss.

If on the other hand, 4-bedroom houses in the area are selling for $350,000 then you have a projected profit of $100,000. You can afford for a lot of things to go wrong, and you can still make a profit.

In the first case, if building costs go up by $50,000, the deal will cost you $30,000.

In the second case, because you have a much larger margin of safety, if building costs go up by $50,000 then you will still make a profit of $50,000.

Margin of Safety is a very important concept to all investors, and all real estate investors should think about it if they want to be around for the long-term.

4: The myth of Risk vs reward – Conventual wisdom says that to increase your reward in investing, you must increase your risk. This is often true, but the Magen of Safety principle can turn this around.

When margin of safety is used, a higher reward actually means a lower risk!

You can see this is the example above. The deal that is projected to make $20,000 is quite risky, whereas the deal with a projected profit of $100,000 is much safer, because a lot more can go wrong before a loss is made.

This doesn’t mean than high reward always means lower risk though. The conventual Risk vs Reward wisdom is still correct in general. So if you borrow more to buy a property, your risk and reward have increased. If you buy in a small town to get a higher rental yield, your risk and reward have increased.

This Risk vs Reward theory is only incorrect when directly applied to the Margin Of Safety concept. So if you buy something for $100,000 that all your analysis shows is worth $200,000, then your reward has gone up, while your risk has gone down.

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Pre-Approval Letter – How To Use It To Get Your Dream Home

When house hunting, many buyers make the mistake of waiting to contact a lender until after they have located their dream home. As a buyer, you will be in a much stronger position with a seller if you are pre-approved.

Pre-Approval Letter

To effectively house hunt, you must know the amount you can borrow from a lender. There is nothing worse than find your dream home, but failing to qualify for the amount you need for a loan. Avoid this by asking your lender to pull your credit information and to let you know what needs to be done to get a pre-approval letter. If you are going to have problems with getting a loan, it is better to know about it as early as possible.

Sometimes buyers resist contacting lenders because it’s not the enjoyable part of home buying and they’re afraid an extra credit check will reduce their credit score. This resistance is penny wise and pound foolish. Buyers who get their loan arrangements lined up at the beginning of the house buying process are really doing themselves a favor.

Much of the country is experiencing a hot, sellers’ market. It is not unusual for a seller to get more than one offer on the same day. If that happens to you, your pre-approved status can give you an edge over the competition. In fact, it can make a seller choose you over another bidder.

Presenting Your Letter to a Seller

When you tell the seller you want to buy their property, give them a copy of your pre-approval letter. They will probably recognize the value of the letter, but don’t depend on this assumption. Make sure the seller realizes the loan is already approved.

As you give the seller the letter, explain to them that you are serious about making the transaction go smoothly and, for that reason, you have already been through most of the loan application process. Point out that the lender has pulled your credit info and you’ve provided copies of W-2s, pay stubs, and all the other things the lender needed to decide that you do qualify for a loan. Tell the seller that the only remaining thing to do is to give the lender a copy of the contract that you and the seller sign, and the property needs to appraise for an appropriate amount.

Taking this approach puts you in a very strong position. The seller knows you are not just wishing; you are capable of buying his property. One of a seller’s worst nightmares is signing a contract with someone, taking his property off the market, wasting time and then finding out that the would-be buyer cannot get a loan. On the other hand, you and your pre-approval letter are dreams come true.

Put on your shining armor and get pre-approved by a lender. Once you have the letter in hand, get out there and find your dream home.

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Wireless Alarms For Your Driveway

Those of you who want to protect your home from possible annoyances and intrusions, never miss out on a home delivery, or always be aware of someone coming up your driveway – should invest in a wireless driveway alarm.  There are a variety of different styles, with each one offering you a truly unique and innovative way to keep up with what’s going on around your property.

You can get either wireless or handheld models, which vary in detection ranges, from the average 1,000 feet for small driveways to the larger driveways which span 2 miles or more.  Some models will warn you of visitors with tones, while others use prerecorded messages.  The more advanced models on the other hand, well you communicate with visitors through the use of an intercom system, which you install at the end of your driveway.

All types of wireless driveway alarms feature a receiver and a transmitter.  Any presence in your driveway is detected by the transmitter, normally through infrared equipment, which notifies you through the receiver.  Most models will allow you to speak through the receiver, transmitting your voice through the transmitter.  If a solicitor or burglary is trying to visit your home, your voice is normally all it takes to turn them around in the other direction.

Even though the technical name is “wireless driveway alarm”, there are several uses for this technology.  You can install the equipment in your yard, out of plain view, or even use the system as an intercom for anyone who pulls up to your gate.  You can also install the system on your roof, or just use it strategically around your property.  There are several uses for wireless systems, although the intention is to alert you when there is any type of human presence or movement on your property.

When you set up your wireless driveway system, you should always place it somewhere where it isn’t easy to see.  You don’t want someone who visits your property to have plain view of your equipment, as it can easily give you away.  Instead, you want to make sure that you are alert of any visitors, yet they aren’t aware that you are using any type of alarms.

Depending on how much money you have to spend, the systems that you can choose from will vary.  There are simple wireless driveway alarms out there, yet there are also systems that can do just about anything you want.  If you live in a suburban area, you may want to go with a standard wireless alarm.  Standard alarms are best for this type of neighborhood, as they are easy to install and will immediately alert you whenever there is presence on your property.  Another great thing about these types of systems is the fact that you can act immediately without having to physically be in touch with the receiver.

All in all, wireless driveway alarms are a great security measure for anyone who owns a home and wants to protect themselves from unwanted visitors.  You can get a slew of features as well, depending on the type of alarm that you select.  You can install most alarms yourself, although the more advanced models will require professional installation.  The self installation types will come with instructions as well, so you won’t encounter any problems.  Even if you’ve never used them before – wireless driveway alarms are a great investment that will alert you anytime someone decides to visit your property.

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Home Security

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Tips For Stopping Spraying

Anytime your cat backs himself up to a door or other object in your house, lifts his tail, and releases urine – you have a problem.  This problem is known as spraying, and is very common with cats kept indoors.  Even though it is a very annoying problem, it’s a problem that can be solved. 

Contrary to what many think, spraying isn’t a litter box problem, but rather a problem with marking.  Cat urine that is sprayed contains pheromones, which is a substance that cats and other animals use for communicating.  Pheromones are much like fingerprints with humans, as they are used to identify the cat to other animals.

When a cat sprays something, he is simply marking his territory through his urine.  The spraying is simply the cat’s way of letting others know that the territory is his.  Even though it may make you mad and annoy you, getting angry with your cat will solve nothing.  If you raise your voice or show angry towards your cat, it can very well result in more spraying.

Cats that are in heat are easily attracted to the odor of urine.  For cats in heat, spraying is more or less an invitation for love.  Often times cats that spray while in heat results in a litter of kittens that are born in just a few short months.  Keep in mind that cats not only spray during heat, as some will also spray during encounters with other cats, or when they are feeling stressed.

Although spraying is a way of communicating for cats, the smell for people is horrible.  The good thing here is that most cats will do a majority of their spraying outdoors.  If you have an indoor cat that never goes outside, spraying can indeed be a problem.  If you’ve noticed spraying in your home, you should take action and do something about it immediately.

The most effective and also the easiest way to stop spraying is to have your cat either neutered or spade, which of course depends on the sex.  Most male cats that have been neutered will stop spraying the same day they have the surgery. If you don’t want to get your cat neutered or spayed, you should look into other options.  If you hope to one day breed your cat, you certainly don’t want to have him neutered or spayed.

The best thing to do in this situation is to talk to your veterinarian.  He will be able to give you advice, and possibly even solve the problem without having surgery.  There may be a medical problem present that is causing the problem, which your vet can identify.  You should always do something about spraying the moment it starts – simply because cat urine stinks and it can leave stains all over your home.

 

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For The Home

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Following A Builder for Profits – An Example

As the real estate market begins to calm down, many worry about making a profit on their homes. Here’s an example of the “follow the builder” profit strategy.

Follow That Builder

In many areas of the country, there are builders who build hundreds of houses each year within a fifty mile radius of each other. They build entire communities, or are one of three to five builders who build entire communities around big employment centers. This is important. Hang with me and you’ll find out why.

Serendipity

The first couple I met who worked the pattern I’m talking about did it the first time almost by accident. They bought one of the first houses built-in a neighborhood that took about two years to build out. Toward the end of the two-year period, they were out for a walk and, on impulse, went into a house under construction that represented a bit of a “move up” from their home. The same builder who had built their home was building it.

The couple went to the sales office of the builder and found out that the house they’d walked through was already under contract. They were shocked to find out the price was $150,000 more than they’d paid for their home! The house was a little larger, but not enough to account for the difference. In fact, they found out their home had increased $100,000 in value.

A Repeatable Pattern

Builders usually have bright, attractive, cheerful, enthusiastic people on their sales forces. These people often have a wealth of knowledge. They know (or can usually find out) which communities the builder has built-in, is building in, and maybe even where they’re going from there. They know a lot about the pattern of price increases for various models. They have some idea of the speed of build out.

It’s also possible to take walks in a builder’s neighborhoods and ask people how that builder is to work with, if construction and “punch list” completion are done reasonably and well, and if they’d choose that same builder again under similar circumstances.

If all the information you develop is favorable, you can start to “follow that builder.” Builders usually sell the first few houses in a neighborhood for less money than any of the homes subsequently built. They’re contracted for before the streets and amenities are complete, and it takes a lot more imagination to see a charming, pleasant neighborhood where now there’s only mud and bulldozers.

Follow the builder is a strategy that has been used. If you like a particular builder, you can use the strategy to put serious money in your pocket.

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How a Real Estate Agent Can Help

There are many ways that a real estate agent can help you when either buying or selling a home. If you are convinced that you do not need a real estate agent you should at least take a step back and reconsider. You may think that selling your home by owner is the way to go so that you can keep all the money, but when it comes down to it this can be quite difficult. If you are not sure what a real estate agent has to offer, your best bet is to call one on the phone and get a basic run down on what they can do for you. This short conversation may be all that you need to change your mind.

Below are three ways that a real estate agent can assist you when buying or selling a home. All of these may not fit into what you are doing, but chances are that at least one will suit your needs.

1. When selling your home a real estate agent can take off all the pressure. This means that they will do everything for you from marketing your home to actually negotiating the price if you want. If you do not hire a real estate agent you will have to handle all of these details on your own. And when it comes down to it they can be quite bothersome and time-consuming.

2. If you are looking to buy a home you may also want to consider using a real estate agent. Not only can they help you to find what is on the market at this time, they can also clue you into new homes that are getting ready to be listed. It is this early jump that may give you what you need to get the home of your dreams. And the great thing about this is that a real estate agent will not charge you any money to help you find a home.

3. All in all, a real estate agent knows what the market is doing. In turn, they can position your home in the best possible light. Remember, the real estate agent industry fluctuates many times a year. Sometimes it is a buyers market, and other times it is a seller’s market. Your real estate agent will be able to take this into consideration, and in turn help you reach all of your goals.

These are just three ways that a real estate agent can assist you when buying or selling a home.

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Home Equity Scams For You?

A home is the most expensive investment most people will ever own. For cash-strapped homeowners a home equity loan is a temptingly easy way to get cash. However, some home equity lenders are dishonest, and gullible consumers are at risk of losing their biggest asset. Borrowers should be wary of unscrupulous lenders and their scams to avoid losing their homes.

Financially unsophisticated homeowners, such as the elderly, members of minority groups and people with poor credit ratings, are often targeted by unscrupulous lenders using unethical lending practices.

One tactic used is called “equity stripping”. In this instance, cash-strapped prospective borrowers who the lender knows cannot met the monthly payments are encouraged to exaggerate their income on the application form to help get the loan approved. As soon as the borrower fails to meet the monthly payment, the lender forecloses, stripping the borrower of all the equity in the home. Low-income homeowners should beware of lenders who encourage them to accept loans which they cannot afford to repay.

Another tactic is the balloon payment. A borrower who is falling behind in mortgage payments is offered mortgage refinancing at a lower monthly payment. However, the payments are lower because they cover only the loan interest. At the end of the loan term, the principal that is, the entire amount of the loan is due in one lump sum called a balloon payment. If the borrowers cannot make the balloon payment or refinance, the home is foreclosed.

Loan flipping is another deceptive practice. The company holding a homeowner’s mortgage offers to refinance in order to give the homeowner extra cash, but charges high points and fees for doing so. The extra cash received may be less than the additional costs and fees charged for the refinancing; moreover, interest must be paid on the extra charges.

Home improvement scams are very common. A contractor offers to install a new roof or remodel a kitchen at a price that sounds reasonable, and offers financing through a lender he knows. Sometimes the contractor even attempts to get the homeowner to sign blank contract forms with the promise they will be filled in later when the contractor is “less busy”. Often, the rates offered are not competitive, and as soon as the contractor has been paid by the lender, he has no interest in completing the job to the homeowner’s satisfaction. The homeowner is left with unfinished or shoddy work and a large loan to pay off.

Credit Insurance Packing is the charging of extra fees at the closing of a mortgage. A homeowner and a lender come to an agreement on a mortgage, but at closing, the lender tacks on charges for credit insurance or other “benefits” that the borrower did not ask for and did not discuss. The lender hopes the borrower won’t notice this, and just sign the loan papers with the extra charges included. If the borrower questions the last-minute charges, the lender may state that the charges are standard policy for all loans, and if objections continue, the lender will claim that it will take several days to draw up a new contract, or that the bank manager may reconsider the loan altogether. Due to these last-minute pressure tactics, the loan may wind up costing considerably more than initially stated. Borrowers who agree to buy the insurance are paying extra for a product they may not want or need.

Mortgage Servicing Abuses occur after the mortgage has been closed. Borrowers get bills from mortgage companies for payments such as escrow for taxes and insurance even though the homeowner agreed beforehand with the lender to pay those items themselves. Bills arrive for late fees, even though payments were made on time. Or a message may arrive saying that the homeowner failed to maintain required property insurance and the lender is buying more costly insurance at the homeowner’s expense. Other unexplained charges such as legal fees are added to the amount owing, increasing the monthly payments or the amount owing at the end of the loan term. The lender does not provide an accurate or complete account of these charges. When homeowners get tired of these tactics and ask for a payoff statement in order to refinance with another lender, they receive inaccurate or incomplete statements. The lender makes it almost impossible to determine how much has been paid and how much is still owing on the loan.

Homeowners should avoid signing over the deed to their properties to lenders under any circumstances. If a borrower is in danger of foreclosure, a second “lender” may offer to help prevent the loss of the home, if only the homeowner will sign over the property as a “temporary” measure. The promised refinancing never arrives, and the lender now owns the property. Once the lender has the deed to your property, he can treat it as his own. He may borrow against it or even sell it to someone else. The borrower no longer owns the home, and will receive no money when it is sold. The lender can treat the borrower as a tenant and the mortgage payments as rent. If the “rent” payments are late, the borrower can be evicted.

To protect against unethical lending practices, homeowners should never agree to loans beyond the means of their monthly income; sign any documents before reading the fine print; or let any lender pressure them into signing immediately. Never allow the promise of extra cash or lower monthly payments get in the way of good financial judgment. If a loan sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Always ask specifically if credit insurance is required as a condition of the loan. If the added security of credit insurance is desired, shop around for the best rates. Keep careful records of all payments, including billing statements and canceled checks. Challenge any inaccurate charges; many companies hope that borrowers will simply not be bothered.

Hire contractors only after checking their references, and get more than one estimate for any job. Borrowers who are financially inexperienced should consider consulting with an accountant or an attorney before signing a loan.

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Mortgages

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Making A Safe Room

The safe room, which is also known as a panic room, is a secure location within a home or building that is designed to provide safety for families during terrorist attacks, nature, burglaries, or other types of threats.  A safe room is an ideal investment for any home owner, although the more fortified rooms with heavy security are normally found in the homes of rich people.  Those that have a lot of money really have no budget – therefore they can easily spend thousands on making their safe room the best place to go in the event of an emergency.

For most of us, a safe room is a location that family members can run to and hide, or call for help in an emergency situation.  You don’t really need to go all out and put steel walls and a steel door in the room, although you do need a fortified door that opens outward with fortified walls.  You can have a door constructed of wood or other material, although the key should be a material that is very hard to break through.  No matter what type of door you choose, the door jamb should be steel, to prevent the door from being kicked in.

It’s almost important that your safe room doesn’t contain any windows.  Windows can provide entry for burglars, which is something you obviously don’t want.  You should also make sure that you keep a phone in the room, along with water, first aid kits, food, and any type of defensive weapons that you can get.  It’s also a good idea to keep medical supplies in the safe room as well, just in case you need them.

No matter how hard you may try, it’s impossible to predict how long you will be locked in your safe room when an emergency happens.  Therefore, you should always think about ventilation, lighting, and even hygiene.  Being locked in a room for several days or possibly even weeks can affect your hygiene, which is why you should keep proper hygiene supplies in your room at all times.

The reason why most people invest in a safe room is burglars, as they present a real threat.  No matter where you live, or how nice the neighborhood may be, a burglary can happen at any given time.  When a burglary happens, the last thing you want to try to do is to reason with the burglars, or attempt to cooperate with them.

When you have a safe room, you can take your family there.  You should always make sure that everyone in your family knows where the safe room is located and how to use it.  If you have children, you should teach them about the room and how important it is.  The room should never be used for recreation purposes or for children to play in.  Instead, it should only be used in case of an emergency or a place for you and your family to hide.

If you have a safe room or just interested in one, you should always make sure that you keep the proper supplies on hand, just in case.  When you finally do use the safe room, you should always make sure that you keep the keys to open the room inside, so no one else can get in.  While you are in the room you can call the local authorities, then wait inside your safe room until they get to your house and the problem is solved.  Never, under any circumstances should you come out of your safe room before the police arrive.  If a burglary is taking place, you will only make the situation worse.

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Home Security

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Knowing When Your Ready To Buy

All across the United States, there are millions of people looking to a buy home – either now or in the future.  Over the last few years, lower interest rates have come along, making it more affordable than ever to buy a home.  When most people stop and give it some thought – buying a home makes a lot more sense than renting a home or an apartment.

In order to buy a house, you’ll need to start saving your money and have enough for the closing costs and a down payment.  Your down payment will normally need to be around 15% of the price or the value of the property – whichever is lower.  To be on the safe side, you should always try to have 20% to put down.  If you aren’t able to put 20% down, you’ll need to buy some private mortgage insurance, which will cost you more in terms of your monthly payment.

In most cases, the closing costs will run you around 5% of the property price.  Before you purchase the home, you should always get an estimate.  An estimate won’t be the exact price, although it will be really close.  You should always plan to save up a bit more money than you need, just to be on the safe side.  It’s always best to have more than enough than not enough.

You’ll know your ready to buy a home when you know exactly how much you can afford, and you’re willing to stick with your plan.  When you buy a home and get your monthly mortgage payment, it shouldn’t be any more than 25% of your total monthly income.  Although there are lenders out there who will say that you can afford to pay more, you should never let them talk you into doing so – but stick to your budget instead.

Keep in mind that there is always more money involved with a home other than the mortgage payment.  You also have to pay for utilities, homeowners insurance, property taxes, and maintenance.  Owning and caring for a home requires a lot of responsibility.  If you’ve never owned a home before, it can take a bit of time to get used to.

Before you fill out any applications, you should always look over your credit report and check for any errors.  Although you may think you don’t, you can easily get an error on your credit report and not even realize it.  If you have an error on your credit report, it can cost you a lot of money in interest rates.  An error will decrease your credit score, which will put you in a higher interest bracket and ultimately cost you a lot more money in the end.  Therefore, you should always know your credit before you approach a lender.

If you check your credit report early enough, you may leave yourself enough time to fix any problems and get your credit back on track.  Rebuilding credit can take time though, sometimes even years.  You should always plan ahead – and give yourself plenty of time to fix your credit.

Buying a home will require a bit of commitment on your behalf.  You should always strive to get the best possible deals, which means knowing your credit and where you stand.  This way, you can get the best interest rates.  You don’t want to buy a home with bad credit, simply because you’ll pay a lot more money for the home.  If you take the time to fix any credit problems and save up some money – you’ll be able to get a much better home for your money.

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