I want to buy a house next year. What should I do to start preparing?

If and when you can, check out your credit card balances and keep them no more than 30% of credit limit. Do not purchase any big ticket items like a car, boat, etc. Do not close any credit card accounts as it may adversely affect your credit score. Save as much as you can leading to your purchase date. Do not switch from being a wage earner to an independent contractor as that will reset the 2 year seasoning period for employment history. Get your income and asset docs in order. If you have cash savings at home, deposit them into your bank account as early as now as it will take at least 3 months for cash deposits to season out for acceptability. And lastly, make sure to get pre-qualified as early as now to take the guess work out of the way and avoid any last minute surprises. Click on this link to see what type of documents you will need to put in order - https://agentmarketing.com/blogs/1376115194/3/Items-Needed-List.html

Pretty straight forward. Make sure good credit is maintained, or start working on fixing if there are old issues. Pay down credit cards, and keep them paid down. Pay off or limit other debt, like car loans. Save your own money for down payment. The more the merrier. If self employed or commissions, you must be at the job for two years. If salary or hourly, don't change jobs near the time you want to buy.

The best advice I can give you is to contact a mortgage banker/broker and apply with them now.. this way, if you have any issues that need to be worked out, then you can start working on them now.. Once they see your complete loan profile, they will be better equipped to advise you properly. Also, by applying with a Banker/Broker, you have an advantage because he's familiar with local customs and works with many lenders with each one offering a different type of lending program. This is unlike the local bank which typically only has a few lending programs. The more lenders, the more lending options, and the more likely your scenario will be accepted.. Plus, the banker/broker is experienced in seeking out the best loan terms for your particular scenario, and he has lower overhead which typically results in lower rates and fees than most of the big box banks. I'm a preferred Lender with California and Arizona being my primary markets. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com NMLS# 226347 / RPM Mortgage NMLS 1541014 / AZMB0121893