To get in front of the herd and find the best mortgage loan for you, let’s start here.
1. Check your credit score and act!
If your credit score is insufficient, you may want to check for errors and have them fixed. Without an adequate credit score, you are leaving yourself at the back of line, and the back of the line sucks big time.
Stay up to date with your payments. Nobody likes to pay a bill a day or two early, especially when the companies you are paying are super rich. But if you gotta pay it anyways, don’t make that mistake.
I remember being a kid with my first car, an ‘88 Honda Prelude. I would always let my tank run empty before filling up. But one day my gas pump broke because I didn’t keep an adequate amount of fuel in it. I had to put gas in my car anyway. It was inevitable. Don’t do that with your bills. Pay up, buttercup and keep your credit in good standing in order to get the mortgage loan you desire. Let’s go.
2. Don’t be Mr. Nice Guy or Gal
Banks make a sh$! load of money. Banks throughout the United States and Canada make record profits. I see the profits they make and ask myself why I have to pay bank fees. And then I realise that they get rich in so many ways. I am jealous just thinking about it.
OK, back to business. When you go to a bank and you have an appointment for a loan pre-approval. The bankers may be very nice and make you feel like they are doing you a favour. Well, if you have good credit and you are pre-approved, NEGOTIATE, and take the smile of their faces.
If the banker gives you pre-approval at a certain interest rate, it is never good enough. Don’t be happy and get your butt to the next bank, show them your offered pre-approval rate and continue to get the next offer at a lower interest rate until you can’t make it go any lower.
Bankers are not your friends. They are pressured by management frequently to make more profits. You are only an opportunity and a money sign.
3. Read your pre-approval documents
Again – banks are not your friends. They might tell you one thing, and put the exact opposite on the terms or contract.
When I got my first mortgage, the mortgage broker mentioned that if I wanted to break my mortgage it would be a minimal penalty. Well, one day, rates dropped and I wanted out of my 5 year fixed rate mortgage. And let’s just say a 6,000 dollar penalty to break my mortgage was not very minimal, to say the least. I didn’t pay it. I continued the 5 year plan at 5.14%
But, hey. She sold me on the mortgage. I signed without reading the fine print, and I paid for it. I still feel it to this day. Have I learned from it? Absolutely. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t trust a car salesman or saleswoman. Sorry, I meant bankers.
Conclusion time.
Do your due diligence. Don’t trust anyone in a suit. Play the game and you will get the best rate possible.
My dad always said, “A dollar saved is a dollar earned.” And when you compare the difference of 3.0 to 2.8 percent over 40 years. Bam! We are talking mucho dinero, folks.
I hope you enjoyed the article.
I am Trev H. I write about jobs, money, and investing. MakeDineroBaby.
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