Dealing with Financing

As the events of the last few years in the real estate industry show, people forget about the tremendous fiscal responsibility of purchasing a home at their peril. Here are a few tips for dealing with the dollar signs so that you can take down that "for sale" sign on your new home.

Get pre-approved

Sub-primes may be history, but you'll still be shown homes you can't afford. By getting pre-approved as a buyer, you can save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can't afford. Unlike pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt, and credit history.

Choose your mortgage carefully

Used to be the emphasis when it came to mortgages was on paying them off as soon as possible. Today, the debt the average person will accumulate means it's usually better to opt for the 30-year mortgage instead of the 15-year.

Do your homework before bidding

Before you make an offer on a home, do some research on the sales trends of comparable homes in the neighborhood. Consider especially sales of comparable homes in the last three months.