When buying a house you should be well prepared. There are many
more things to keep in mind than just looking at a house or area
itself.
It is often recommend to be pre-approved by a mortgage lender
before entering the market to buy a house. A pre-approval will
already tell you for how much loan you qualify.
When a mortgage lender reviews
your loan application for approval, he will be concerned about
the source of funds for your down payment and the closing costs.
Don't move your money around between accounts. The lender will
ask for statements for each account and it has be highly visible
where your available assets are. Moving money around between
accounts make this a difficult tasks and lenders do not like
to see money being moved around as it raises suspicion of where
the money is coming from at all. The mortgage underwriter will
eventually require paper trail for each and every dollar if the
source of the money cannot be seen. Don't switch banks and leave
your money where it is.
Do not change jobs if possible. This can especially be critical
if you work in a commission-based job/industry. Lenders like to
see a steady increase in income. The more stable your income history
is, the better. Large fluctuations - especially when working on
commission - can have a negative impact on the loan approval or
the loan amount. Do not quit a job to become self-employed shortly
before or during the loan approval process. That would be "committing
loan approval suicide".
Stay away from any major loan-based purchase before and during
the loan approval process. Additional loan payments will reduce
the loan amount you would have otherwise qualified for.
