What are some tips for first-time home buyers?

The best tip I can offer, is to simply contact a local licensed mortgage professional. Give them a full application so they can review your exact situation. With the full picture of you, they can zero in like a laser beam on what you qualify for, what you may or may not need to do to be able to buy a home. Without a full picture, everyone is just guessing. You may be ready already!

Work on your credit history before you start shopping around for a home loan. Contact a loan officer to find out how your credit report looks like and if there are any inaccuracies, correct those. If there are any other issues, your loan officer can help you by letting you know what you can do to increase your credit score. For example, you may need to pay down some of your credit card balances to increase your credit score or you may need to a couple more credit cards. After you have improved your credit score, have your loan officer do a pre-approval of your home not just a prequalification. This way once you find a home, you know that you will get the loan.

Make sure your credit rating is a 640 or better - this would be your mid score of the three buraues, Insure you at least have two to thre tradlines at least a year old - meaning three things on credit - car, credit card, ect. If you are not military or do not have military backgroung you will want to put at least 3.5% down or more.

I agree with Bert. Gather the following and go speak with a local company.Tax returns for the last 2 yearsW-2 forms for the last 2 years30 days of recent pay stubs2 months of bank statements (where the down payment money is coming from)Good Luck!

Sorry Joe for calling you Bert!

DITO...WilliamAcres.com

Get a referral from someone that knows a mortgage broker in your area or that is licensed in your state and get pre-qualified, that way if there are some things on your credit or income profile you could work on them ahead of time..Good luck