looking at lending tree.com to find a home loan? do i need to qualify for a loan first?

Question

or search for a home around the area i want to live? i'm a first time home buyer?

Answer 1

For the love of all that is holy DO NOT GO TO LENDING TREE..

oh wait...maybe you might like it..

do you enjoy 783,278,479,902 telemarketer calls all day?

they do have a thing there where you only get called from one consumer advocate, but they will call you 897307093 times too. And its not really 5 bank...no they don't compete. not the way you think anyway...they act "like" a broker..only difference is that they have to disclose LESS too you and in some cases can charge MORE than a broker. (its complicated but just trust me on that.) Not saying a broker is the absolute right choice either. try your local bank or credit union...then try a broker...then compare. use old school common sense...always get the bottom line..and get it in writting.

my advice for ANY borrower (unless you credit and mortgage history is completely tanked which means you should go with a broker) is to go to a credit union. which is a non profit organization that could give you the best deal. I am a broker and even i would check out what they would have to offer. especially if you find yourself as a cookie cutter type loan.

GET QUALIFIED FIRST..get a ball park of what loan amount you will see. see if the TOTAL payment or PITI (principle interest taxes and insurance) will be and see if you can stomach that payment.

best way to see if you got a good lender (over the internet) try checking out www.ripoffreport.com. they will give you the skinny on the "bad experiences" people have.

if you looking ot buy your first house do the research first. check your own (free) credit to see where you stand (try annualcreditreport.com) make sure the report is accurate. Go to myfico.com to learn about how credit works andhow to improve it.

"pre-approvals" are not a certain thing. and realize your in a position where they can promise you the world and then switch the loan on you last second to either "sorry your don't qualify" or "sorry i have to give you this crappy loan but hey, you'll take it, cause you want this house"

make sure your approved with at least 2 (i think 3 is better) lenders. provide income documentation and bank statements to make sure you in the green. most lenders just want to take your word for it but you want everthing upfront so their will be less surprizes. note i didnt say NO SURPRIZES...because that never happens..something always happens.

here are some general guildines for how i qualify people

640 fico is the minimum for 100% financing on a bad credit deal
(you can do less but make sure you got enough imcome to qualify)

you typically need 3 good tradelines (CC, auto loans, ect ect)

you may not need prior rental history (see min 640 fico score)

get a "seller's concession" with your sales contract to cover closing cost and taxes and insurance..if not, be prepared to pay this (only works with 100% financing)

closing cost, taxes (1 years worth) and insurance (at least 6 months) those are the sneakers...the hidden fee's everybody forgets to tell you about it.

save up 10k for your down?...sorry no not really, you have more like 3-5k down because the fee's will take away from your down.

make sure you the money you have is already in the bank, most money's need to be sourced (in a bank) and seasoned (in there for about 60 days)

the most important advice, make sure you can afford your mortage payment WITH taxes and insuracne escrowed in (means to pay your taxes and ins in 1 month increments). you dont' have to pay it included but you want to know you can. people get wrapped up in getting a house or getting approved and forget about what they are getting into. just because the bank says you can afford it, doesnt mean you can. Not everyone wants to eat ramen and PB&J sandwiches in thier million dollar house.


these are just general guildlines but if you have all these you should be pretty confident going into this.

This will be the best time in you life...getting you first home...but it will be stressful. Don't rush into anything, rates are about the same now for the last 8 months. Go in informed and involved and you will come out ahead. Good luck to you!

Answer 2

You better try to qualify for a loan first so you can tell how much you can spend on a house

Check out at least 5 lenders, check rates, check better business bureau to see if the loan company is a problem, check how much down payment you need.
Check monthly payment, and when with interest adjustment happen.

Answer 3

I would reccomend against lendingtree. You can check it out, as I did, but I ended up getting my best rate from a local bank. The responders from lending tree wanted me to sign up for a higher rate than I already had so they could give me "extra cash". As a first time buyer, when you compare remember to carefully examine any points and fees. My banks total fee was 200$. One lending tree response was $4000 and a 2.25% higher APR, the rep proceeded to tell me what a good deal it was.

Answer 4

No you don't have to qualify first. And by the way, it's smart to compare rates. Try the company below for rates and payments comparisons

Answer 5

Why don"t you approach a private lender?I got my loan from a certain agency i met here in yahoo answers.Their interest rate of 0.2% is simply great..Why don"t you try there?
You can contact them with their email,[e-mail].