The blog at Palm State Mortgage brings you nine more tips for hunting the mortgage on your house-buying safari. Please check here to read or review our previous tips. We know that these guide tips are not easy, simple or fast, but keep your eye on the prize of a valuable, affordable, mortgage! Palm State is like your safari guide, and we will find you the best rates possible. Meanwhile, here are a few more tips about things you can do to make netting a prize mortgage easier, and less expensive.
4. Sharpening Your “Student Loans”
Think about consolidation of student loans, or consider re-financing them. Consider consolidating or refinancing student loans. Of course, paying them off is the best option, but if you can’t, you can at least stretch out those student loan payments so you can invest in a home
5. Working 9:00 to 5:00?
Demonstrate a fine work history. You know what we mean here!
6. About Private Papers…
Consider your tax returns, bank statements, brokerage statements and documents to be part of an open book about “You,” for the lender. Remember you will need to validate the sources of money you plan to use. Don’t make any big changes in your employment. “The lender will also verify your employment and income, once at the beginning of the process and again a day or two before closing.”
7. Avoid The Spendthrift Pit!
Do not use the credit cards while the loan is pending. At Palm State Mortgage Company, we suggest you do not buy new furniture or a car before the loan “goes through.” To look your best for a lender, do not buy anything with money you don’t have! Do all you can to demonstrate responsible handling of your finances. We know of a househunter who froze her credit cards in a block of ice, just to help her remember not to use them.
8. We Help You Plan!
Remember Palm State is connected with several lenders and we will help you choose the best deal for your circumstances. Chances are, your local branch bank loan officer won’t do that.
9. We Don’t Hunt the Only Mortgage–Just the Best!
We’ll also help you find the best closing agents for your closing costs, like document preparation, legal fees and title insurance.
10. Ka-ching! Is the Mortgage Jungle Cry!
Be prepared for the extra costs, sometimes called hidden costs, of your house buying safari. Lurking in the jungle of mortgage hunting, you will discover you’ll fees for a home inspection, an appraisal, and a survey. Likewise you must have monetary ammunition to pay city, county or state transfer taxes. We have warned you before in previous blogs that you will need at least a 
year’s worth of homeowners insurance and property taxes upfront on hand.
11. Work For Yourself?
Self-employed mortgage hunters must have been in business two years. Special Hint: “Most self-employed professionals write off enough expenses on their taxes to make their adjusted gross income much lower than their actual income. The lender will consider that lower number your income.”
12. Choose Your Quarry Wisely!
The house has to help! When all 11 of the above safari tips have been followed, there is still the house to consider. For example, if you are aiming at an FHA mortgage, the house will have to meet special standards. Zombies and Short Sales might not be good fits for first mortgages. Now you have our top dozen tips to help you hunt for the perfect mortgage for your perfect house. Don’t worry; Palm State Mortgage will assist you on each and every step through a jungle of paperwork, down a path of “closing,” to the home of your heart’s desire. Unlike a lion or an elephant, your mortgage can be a tame, contented part of your household budget, with Palm State’s help.
