Buying a home?

Life is always changing. Perhaps you have decided to go back to school, change jobs, move to another state to be closer to family, or you are looking for an upgrade or downgrade from your current home. Whatever the reason, we can help you through  the process of buying a home.

Things To Consider When Buying Your Next Home

Why Do You Need To Buy A New Home?

•     Children leaving the home
•     New job
•     Family is growing larger
•     Looking for your dream home
•     Moving out of the city
•     Moving to the city

What Features and Amenities You Need in Your Next Home?

Plan ahead for your new home by making a list of the features/amenities you want it to have:

•     Number of bedrooms and baths
•     Outdoor features
•     Location near schools, dining, shopping
•     Large open kitchen
•     Central heat and air
•     Garage for RV/boat

What Are The Costs of Selling Your Current Home?

There are several costs that are involved in putting your home up for sale that you should look at before you list it.

•     Cosmetic appeal updating interior/exterior appearance
•     Mortgage with a prepayment penalty
•     Advertising your home for sale
•     Home inspector to check for problems such as pipes leaking, structure/safety issues
•     Real estate commission
•     Moving costs/storage costs

Determine Your Time Frame for Purchasing Your Next Home

Will you have to sell your home before you have the ability to proceed with purchasing your next home, or do you have sufficient cash and credit to proceed while you sell your home?

Important Things To Know About The Mortgage Application

There are four main factors that we will evaluate during your mortgage application process:

Debts/credit history review Your history of payments on credit cards, loans, bills, and other debt sources is examined to determine that you make your payments in a timely manner. We also run a credit report and look at your credit score during this process.

Income sources It is important to include all sources of income on your application such as part-time jobs, commissions, retirement, alimony, child support, investments, overtime, and bonuses. Verify that the income source is stable and will continue to be an income source for a period of three years.

Assets/funds - Assets are needed to cover your down payment and closing costs you will need to show that you have sufficient funds to pay the costs associated with buying your next home on your mortgage application.

Value of property The market value of the property you wish to purchase should be submitted to us. We will need to make sure that underwriting requirements will be satisfied by the home's appraisal.

Can You Afford Your Next Home?

First Rate Mortgage can help you determine what your mortgage payment on your next home will be. Use our mortgage calculators: mortgage calculator with escrow, interest only mortgage calculator and mortgage loan amount calculator. You can also receive a quote through our Get An Instant Quote tool or talk to one of our highly trained and knowledgeable staff for a loan pre-qualification or pre-approval letter.

Our Service Area

Currently First Rate Mortgage is licensed in 7 states - GA, NJ, FL, CA, TX, MN, MD, VA providing a wide selection of home loan programs:

    Fixed Rate

    Adjustable Rate (ARM)

    HARP 2.0

    FHA

    VA Loans

Please visit our website (http://www.firstratemtg.com/) for the updated list of states we are licensed in.