Articles provided by RE-Sterling.com

There are many obstacles you can avoid when you are in the market to buy a new home. Here are some researched points and strategies to help you buying a home along with the appropriate mortgage information:

Find out your credit rating and score. You may be able to get a better mortgage interest rate and more favorable loan terms by transferring some of your balances on credit cards, car loans, etc. A mortgage professional help you correct errors on your credit report and score and determine which balances to restructure or pay off in order to improve your credit score.

Know what you can spend, now and in the future

Some of the areas to consider (Especially for First Time Home Buyers):

- Establish your down payment amount and ascertain where these funds are coming from

- Evaluate the impact of home ownership on you annual taxes, considering mortgage interest deductability

- Restructure some other debt you may have to free up more monthly cash flow that enables you to improve your home buying budget

Don't get caught in the pre-approval | pre-qualification trap. It is always better to get full loan approval from a mortage company before you even start looking for homes or condos in Northern Virginia. Many mortgage brokers and lenders will give you a pre-approval or pre-qualification, but these are often worthless. What you really need is a bona fide commitment from a mortgage lender that you are in fact approved for financing. Many have been ruined because buyers, sellers and Realtors have counted on pre-approval letters that proved meaningless.

Start Paying attention to the local and regional economic factors paying particular attention to local housing inventories, local unemployment rates, speculation and other factors that can have an impact on the Northern Virginia Real Estate market.