Everyone has a first time when he or she steps up and makes a huge decision, the decision here is applying for a mortgage for house purchase. It is through experience that we learn a few things here and there, the mortgage process is a challenging process that requires a lot of decision making.

You have to choose a mortgage lender, choose a mortgage program and present so many requirements to the mortgage lender so that the process can begin officially. Below are some tips one should go through before making this step, these tips will help you in making some decisions when it comes to choosing between two options.

• Window shop for mortgage lenders

There are so many mortgage lenders that first-time home buyers in Laredo can work with, this mortgage lenders can either be banks, credit unions, mortgage companies or mortgage brokers.

Every type of mortgage lender has his pros and cons, a borrower should carefully weigh the pros and cons and choose mortgage lender he/she finds best. You can do this with the help of mortgage experts by personally visiting these lenders.

Different mortgage lenders offer different mortgage rates, an example a mortgage broker can help you find a lender that offers a low mortgage rate but for someone who trusts the bank will get the mortgage deals the bank is offering and he or she might miss out on some good low mortgage deals.

• Ensure your mortgage has been approved

For first time home buyers in Laredo, one might get excited about searching for a house one thing you should ensure is that before you go looking for a house your mortgage should be approved by the lender you have chosen.

You might get disappointed when you have already located house then your mortgage request gets rejected because of so many reasons. Your mortgage gets approved after you have chosen a lender, chosen a mortgage term, mortgage program and after you have presented your requirements to the lender.

• Calculate an estimate of the mortgage fees

This is possible when you directly have a deep conversation with the mortgage expert, having an estimation of how much the fees will be helps you prepare yourself financially.

This fees arise depending on the mortgage program you have chosen, an example if you have chosen the Federal Housing Administration( FHA) ,there is 3.5 % down payment that is if you have a minimum credit score of 580, a Premium Mortgage Insurance( PMI) this insures your mortgage from getting cancelled, appraisal fees, home inspection fees and closing costs.

If you are working with a mortgage broker, they can help by recommending a real estate agent who will take you to this open houses and explain to you all you need to know about certain houses and their locations, this agents can also negotiate on your behalf so that some fees can be avoided.

• Organize yourself

There are some requirements you need to present to the mortgage lender, something like credit score Matters you should pull out your credit report and see whether its pleasing or not it is not then there are ways in which you should improve the score with adequate research you should have an idea of what to do.

For tax statements ensure that they are updated you also need to present proof that you are employed and for a certain period of time. For the closing costs and mortgage fees you need to start saving before you apply to avoid using all your money. With a good lender and a good real estate agent there are some fees that you might actually not pay.

For those who are self-employed, they need to pull out profit and loss statements that will help the mortgage lender estimate how much they earn per month. The other thing is that when filing out such details ensure that you are honest since any mistake you lead to your mortgage getting rejected.