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Buying a new home, particularly if it’s your first home, will probably be one of the most expensive pursuits of your life. Mortgages are long-term loans that command a significant sum of your earnings, while the entire process of finding, purchasing, and checking over a new house also requires a fair bit of money.
So, it’s important to embrace whatever money-saving method you can through the many steps of buying a new home. If you’re almost ready to buy, you should find these tips easy to adopt.
Assess and improve your credit score
Credit scores are an essential building block for lenders when assessing your viability for a mortgage. What’s essential to understand is that lenders can be as likely to reject someone with a perfect score as they are someone with a bad score — although a bad credit score essentially eradicates your chances of getting a house.
Lenders judge you on your profitability as a customer rather than your reliability with money. Luckily, you can bring your credit score into the right parameters relatively easily. If you have a bad credit score, first check your credit files to see if any incorrect accounts are linked to your report. Then, apply for a credit card designed to boost your credit score.
Money Saving Expert explains that they have high rates, but by paying back in full on small spends each month, you can quickly prove your creditworthiness. If you have a strong credit score and are being declined, seek professional assistance before you go missing payments or apply to multiple credit cards at once.
Seek soft credit checks and free services
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A simple step to save money and your credit score is to go with trusted and competitive online brokers who offer key steps in the mortgage process for free. One option is the free soft check mortgage in principle from Trussle, which checks your eligibility against 18 lenders. This means you can get an idea of how much you can borrow for a home without affecting your credit score.
This MIP then lasts up to 90 days, so you’ll have ample time to narrow down to the house that you want to buy within your borrowing limit. As it’s online, you can get a MIP at any time, and you’ll immediately get an email saying how much you can borrow — which can then be downloaded for use.
Wait for the best time of year to buy
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As a general rule, Investopedia says that the best time to buy a house is when you can afford it, but that you should look to make the most of low-interest loans if you’ve got a good credit score. This is true, and is a fundamental box that you should tick before house hunting.
However, it’s also been found that there are more opportune times of the year to buy. The late spring and summer have the most people looking to buy, willing to bid, and the most sellers. If you wait until fall, though, you should see a lot less competition and homeowners who are more eager to sell.
Following the tips above, you’ll be able to put yourself in the best position to save money and find houses within your limits. After you have a house locked down, you play with other money-saving methods like using a moving company near to your destination rather than one that’s currently local to you.
