What Every Sacramento Home Buyer Must Know

Update: Sacramento Home Buyer Must or Bust

Sacramento home buyers MUST be pre-approved for a home loan BEFORE looking at homes for sale.

But, before you go running around calling just anyone to get pre-approved, I suggest that you contact a professional Realtor who will know “good” referral lenders and guide you in the home buying process.

As a Realtor we have seen many home buyers, many home loans and know many other Realtors who share their horror stories about mortgage lenders. We know the mortgage lenders who should be called, the ones who you should have faith in to give the best loan tailored to your needs.

Many home buyers go to their bank to get a mortgage loan. Did you know that many of these same people are not licensed?  The banks have not necessarily done a very good job with mortgage loans, hence the bailout…case in point. Do you really want to take a chance on your mortgage loan?

Not all Pre-Approvals are legitimate. A Pre-Approval for a loan is the 1^st step toward home buying.

Recently, a First Time Home Buyer was “pre-approved” by Bank X, a large bank. When the home buyers came to me beaming that they had been pre-approved by Bank X my heart sank. I knew based upon past experience this could be a problem but hoped I was wrong.

These 1st Time Home Buyers found a home for sale that they loved and we went into contract on the house. During the escrow process there were some minor “red flags” that reared their ugly head but we trudged on. Then, two weeks ago, as we are approaching closing, I called Bank X to see how the loan was coming. Later, in the afternoon Bank X called and said the loan had been DENIED.

Can you imagine how these First Time Home Buyers felt at the last minute while preparing to move to their new home, that they had been denied a loan? I’ll tell you, they were devastated, shock and surprised!

I quickly spun into action and called the licensed mortgage broker that I have faith in and he saved the deal! Not all lenders have the experience and knowledge that other reputable lenders have. It is so very important to make sure that home buyer understands the importance of a good loan and a reputable lender. Many of the banks have proven in the sub-prime fiasco that they have not looked out for the home buyer. Why would you go to a bank as your primary source for a loan?

Luckily, these First Time Home Buyers will be closing on their new home at the end of this month.

Just last month I sent a home buyer who called wanting to buy a house to a reputable mortgage lender. She didn’t like what she heard so she called a bank who told her that she qualified for $20,000 more than what the mortgage lender told her. She felt she was ready to move ahead and look at homes for sale. When I asked her for her approval papers, she said she had none but the bank told her she was approved for $150,000.  She said the bank never asked her name.  BINGO!

Folks, this is not a loan approval. It’s nothing! Credit, bank statements, FICO scores, W-2 forms and tax returns need to be analyzed in order to obtain a pre-approval. Anyone that thinks they have a pre-approval without providing those documents has nothing. You can not buy a house or get a loan without a pre-approval unless you are paying all cash. Even then you MUST provide bank documentation of all the funds.

Remember, not all pre-approvals are created equal.

Don’t be another victim and statistic of foreclosure. Get pre-approved and call your professional experienced Realtor for a legitimate referral to a mortgage broker. We know who the good ones are. We want the best for you and want you to stay in your home, not lose it to foreclosure. We also don’t want you to find out at the last minute that you can’t get a loan.

How in the world can you look at homes for sale without knowing how much you can afford. All of those little calculators on the Internet are simply approximations. They do NOT give you a clear picture of your house payment.

A legitimate mortgage broker will give the home buyer a “Good Faith Estimate” which will show ALL of the costs involved in buying a house. Doesn’t it make sense to know what your house payment will REALLY be? Don’t you want to know what that number is?

To be a responsible home owner, you must FIRST be a responsible home buyer.

Give me a call and I will gladly refer you to a reputable mortgage broker who will be honest and get you pre-approved for a home loan.

An experienced Realtor will not show any home buyer a home for sale without a pre-approval.

So, it boils down to this, do you want to have experienced professionals working for you, looking out for your best interests or do you just want to leave it up to chance and get what you get? There are a lot of foreclosed homes where the homeowner did just that…they took a chance with the largest asset, their home.

Take a look at all the homes for sale in Sacramento and the surrounding areas.

If you have a real estate question that you would like an answer to, be sure to check out and read what other home buyers and home sellers have asked and feel free to ask your Real Estate question by email.   Perhaps, your question will be part of the next article featured on Sacramento REAL Estate Voice.

If you like what you read here on Sacramento Real Estate Voice simply click and subscribe to get the latest articles sent to your email.

Other First Time Home Buyer Articles:

Important Buyer Information

New Home Buyer Information You Need to Read

What Every Buyer Should Know