You've decided to buy a house, so you start looking at places to live. Before you start, you should start looking for the best mortgage option for you.
When to start looking for a loan to buy a new home
Most people wait until the last minute to start looking for a mortgage and take the first offer they get. This is the worst thing you could do. A house is one of the most important things you will ever be able to own, and getting a mortgage on it, or more accurately, the best mortgage possible on it, is very important. Shopping around is the only way to find the best mortgage for you.
This means, of course, that you should start looking as soon as you can. Don't wait until the last minute to look for mortgage options. Instead, give yourself as much time as you can to look at as many lenders as you can and see what each has to offer. Every lender is different and will offer different mortgage plans with different rates and other features. You need time to look at all of these offers and figure out which ones are good and which ones are bad. If your credit isn't great, a mortgage broker can help you find the best deal. Since this is all they do, they can put you way ahead of the game.
If you wait until the last minute to find a mortgage, you may have to settle on one early, which can cost you tens of thousands of dollars in the long run. One percentage point of interest might not seem like much, but it can add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a 20- to 30-year mortgage for a home that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. All of that money is interest paid to the lender. Don't let a lender take more money from you than he has to. You can use your money for better things. Shop around to find the best mortgage plan and the lowest interest rate you can.
As soon as you think you might be interested in buying a home, you should start looking for a mortgage. You don't have to take it too seriously, but you should start by looking at the biggest banks and lenders you know of. Set up some things and ask for feedback. Start by figuring out how much money you'll need and what kind of interest rate you want. If at all possible, you should try to get pre-approved for a loan. Remember these things and compare plans to find the best one.
