{"id":19223,"date":"2023-01-25T00:23:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T00:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19223"},"modified":"2023-01-24T20:30:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T20:30:10","slug":"home-buying-tips-to-get-you-back-in-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/home-buying-tips-to-get-you-back-in-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Home-Buying Tips To Get You Back In The Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY ANNA & MICHELLE<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on the sidelines to buy a home, there are things you can do to be ready when you do get back in the game.<\/p>\n

Improve your credit score to qualify for the best mortgage rate available, which is reserved for those with the highest scores.\u00a0Get a copy of your current credit reports from all three of the main credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.\u00a0You can get them at\u00a0AnnualCreditReport.com\u00a0without paying for them.<\/p>\n

While you won\u2019t see a credit score on these reports, you will see a history of your available credit accounts.\u00a0According to the Federal Trade Commission, one in five people has at least one error on one of their credit reports, which can lower your score or increase the cost or likelihood of receiving new credit.\u00a0Identify and correct these mistakes.<\/p>\n

Explain in writing the error in the report and include copies of documents that support your dispute.\u00a0Both the credit bureau and the business that supplied the information must correct the information that is in error.\u00a0There will not be a fee to correct it.\u00a0You can get specific info for the process on each credit reporting company\u2019s website and from the\u00a0FTC Consumer Advice.<\/p>\n

There is a term call \u201ccredit utilization\u201d which describes how much of your available credit on each revolving account is currently being used.\u00a0If the limit on one card was $10,000 and you had a $5,000 balance, the utilization ratio is 50%.\u00a0Amounts above 30% can negatively impact your credit score even if you do pay the balance each month.<\/p>\n

Any delinquent items that may appear on your credit report need to be cleared up.\u00a0Regardless of whether there is a legitimate reason, it needs to be explained to the credit bureau.\u00a0Beginning in 2023, medical collections less than $500 will no longer be reported on consumer credit reports.<\/p>\n

Continue to save for a down payment because mortgages less than 80% of loan-to-value require mortgage insurance, which increases the monthly payment.\u00a0The exception to the rule is for VA loans, which do not require it.\u00a0The cost of mortgage insurance could add 0.5% to 2% or more to the payment.<\/p>\n

Lower your debt-to-income ratio by paying off installment loans for cars, boats, and other things.<\/p>\n

While there are legitimate credit repair services available, you may be able to get excellent advice from a trusted mortgage professional.\u00a0You\u2019ll eventually want to be preapproved before you start looking at homes.\u00a0Your real estate agent can make a recommendation to connect you with someone who will get you ready to get back into the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ANNA & MICHELLE If you\u2019re on the sidelines to buy a home, there are things you can do to be ready when you do get back in the game. Improve your credit score to qualify for the best mortgage rate available, which is reserved for those with the highest scores.\u00a0Get a copy of your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-better-homeowners-news","category-sponsored"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19225,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19223\/revisions\/19225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}