It’s a great time to purchase a new home in WA and with this comes greater competition from other buyers, so it helps to be prepared with a pre-approved loan. By having a pre-approved loan, you know how much you can borrow and therefore how much you can spend, which means you can make an offer to purchase a property with a degree of certainty. This way, that you won’t go over-budget with your purchase, and your pre-approval puts you in a better position at the negotiation table.
To get a pre-approved loan and take yourself one step closer to owning your own dream property, there are 4 things you should do:
1. Get your financial documents together.
In order to borrow funds, you will need to provide proof of income to your prospective lender. This may include pay slips, employment contract, and for self-employed, up to date financials. If you have other debts, such as car loans or credit cards, you will need to provide statements showing a good repayment history. You should also assess your other ongoing expenses (phone bill, food shopping, entertainment and utilities), to assess how much you spend each month and whether you can truly afford the additional loan repayments.
2. Perform a credit health check.
Aside from your financial capacity to repay the loan, your credit rating will also be an important consideration when assessing your application. Do you have a good repayment history? If you have been late in making repayments, or have defaulted on repayments, your loan application will be negatively impacted.
3. Use a mortgage broker.
Make an appointment to see a broker. Before your meeting, your broker will let you know what you need to bring with you to ensure there are no delays. Your broker has access to over 25 different lenders and will be able to make an assessment as to the most appropriate option for you based on your objectives and current financial circumstances. Your broker will prepare your application, assist you in compiling all of the supporting documentation, and liaise directly with the lender throughout the application process right through to settlement. You broker will make everything simpler and more convenient for you.
4. Hunt for your new Home.
Once you’ve received a pre-approval advice from your proposed lender, it will typically be valid for 90 days. This gives you 3 months to find your new property.
It is important to remember that a pre-approval is not an unconditional approval. Pre-approvals are usually subject to a number of things occurring, one of which is satisfactory valuation of the proposed property. Therefore, despite having the pre-approval, any offer to purchase a property should be made subject to finance. Try to be conservative and realistic in your estimates on how much the property is worth. Also factor in your other expenses such as stamp duty, as well as legal and conveyancing fees and any money you will need to spend on the property.
When you have found your ideal home, contact your mortgage broker right away so they can continue processing your application and get an unconditional approval on your loan. Get in touch with us today to find out how much you can borrow and make your home loan approval as simple and as hassle-free as possible.