So youve decided to buy a home. Perhaps youre a newlywed, and you and your spouse are starry-eyed and off to pursue the American dream. Maybe youre a disgruntled renter, tired of throwing away your hard-earned money every month. Perhaps youre a savvy investor looking to turn a buck off the white-hot housing market.
Whatever your reason, youre ready to buy, and youre ready to buy now. Purchasing a home can be a wonderful, weird, and intimidating experiencesometimes all at once. But by following a few simple steps, your transition from renter to buyer can be a smooth one.
Give Credit Its’ Due
It can be pretty tempting to pick up the Sunday newspaper and search for the home of your dreams, but before you even take the rubber band off of that edition, youve got to get your credit in order. There are three major credit agencies who keep track of your credit recordExperian, TransUnion and Equifax. Each of them have a credit rating for you on file, and when averaged out, youll get your credit score. Check each of these resources independentlythere are several online resources where you can purchase all three credit reports at onceand make sure to correct any...