Interested in buying a home? Get the facts

Senior loan officer and WMU alumnus gives advice on purchasing a home

By Nate Coe
Western Herald

Buying a new home can be a frightening first step after graduating from college. Many students are unsure and unaware of what to do.
Greg Kalush, a Western Michigan University alumnus and senior loan officer at Northern Mortgage, offers students a list of his “Do’s and Don’ts” on purchasing a new home.
“These are the main points to keep in mind. You don’t need to be an expert on them, but you need to be sure to ask questions about them,” Kalush said.

Greg’s ‘Do’ List:
•   Know your credit score and make sure every item is yours.
“Your credit score dictates whether you can be approved for a loan or not. If it’s not high enough you can’t even get a loan,” Kalush said. “And the higher the credit score, the better the rate you’re eligible for.”
Also, with many instances, children with the same name as their parents can end up having items on their credit score that belong to their parents.
“I had a lady that had the same name as her mom and when I pulled her credit she had a house she bought when she was negative 6 years old,” he said.
•   Take care of your credit issues now. Be sure that paid collections are actually removed; many times they are not, even after payment.
“Sometimes when you have a paid collection the collection companies might say they’ve taken it off your record but in fact they haven’t,” Kalush said.
In which case you must write the collections company a letter stating you want the issue investigated.
•   Talk to a mortgage broker. They may have plans that are not available at your local bank or credit union.
“Banks might have only two or three options to finance your home, but a mortgage broker can shop for a rate at around 15 places,” he said.
•   Know the type of job you choose may affect your ability to obtain a mortgage without a cosigner i.e. commission or self employment.
And remember, college time does count towards work experience.
•   Check out the neighborhoods you’re interested in. Be aware of the property taxes. They may surprise you.
“People should be careful because they would be surprised as to how expensive some neighborhoods can be just because of property taxes,” he said.
•   Remember that the condition of the home can dictate the type of mortgage available to you.

Greg’s ‘Don’t’ List:
•   Don’t “wait for the market to bottom out.” Get approved and find your home; it is a buyer’s market.
“If you’re ready to buy a house, you can buy a great deal and run with it,” he said.
•   Rush the home buying process. It typically takes 3-4 weeks, longer with foreclosures.
“I run into a lot of people who have found an awesome house they want. They think they can move into it tomorrow,” Kalush said.
There’s a process involved. You have to get approved and get the mortgage to approve it. Potential buyers have to meet with real estate people to do an appraisal.
“There’s multiple steps so don’t rush out of your apartment because it takes time for the paper work to flow,” he said.
•   Find a house before being pre-approved for a loan. Bids aren’t accepted without approval.
•   Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t deal with someone that won’t answer all of them.
“It’s your first time doing something you need to ask any question you can think of. If you have a thousand questions then they should provide a thousand answers,” Kalush said.
For any questions or advice students can reach Greg Kalush by e-mail at greg@northernmtg.com or by phone at 616-532-5551.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 19 2009. Filed under Housing Guide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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