If you’re a financial advisor, you know how important it is to help your clients plan for the future and make smart financial decisions—especially if they’re thinking about buying a home. However, with people having such diverse financial backgrounds, it can be difficult to track and provide the best tips. Fortunately, there’s a tool that makes it easy: the mortgage number calculator from mortgagenumber.com. It’s a tool that provides users with insights on their overall strengths and weaknesses in today’s mortgage environment. Below, we’ll go over how financial advisors can use mortgagenumber.com to benefit their clients!

What is a Mortgage Number?

A mortgage number is a determiner that offers insights on how financial institutions view users as a borrower. To get your result, you simply have to input your financial information to our mortgage number calculator to find out your status. It shows you a number along with a color. With green you qualify, gray you’re on the border, and red needs work. The higher your mortgage number, the stronger candidate you are from the lender’s perspective.

How Financial Advisors Can Use mortgagenumber.com to Benefit Their Client

Financial advisors would absolutely benefit from this tool as they can provide a quick and accurate status of their client’s position. By simply imputing their financial information, you can instantly provide them with valuable information about their eligibility. The best part is that this tool is completely free! No personal or credit card information ever! It’s simply here to make the complicated home buying processes a little easier.

Saves Time & Money

Knowing ahead of time what potential homebuyers can and cannot qualify for will save everyone time and money. The universal lending system was not designed for the borrower. It includes a complicated qualification process filled with intricate jargon and complex processes. Mortgage Number helps people save the time necessary to scale their goals with a clear understanding of the opportunities available in the mortgage space. With this tool, financial advisors can confidently provide their clients with insights. This enables financial advisors to create better financial plans and get their client’s goals accomplished with more accuracy and in a shorter amount of time.

Provides Value

If a financial advisor can provide their clients with some added value that people cannot find anywhere else, they’ll be more likely to succeed! Our site is intended for planning and educational purposes and relies on your input and assumptions. So if you use this tool wisely, you can prepare your clients to either take the next steps towards buying a home or create a plan that will prepare them to do so. When the time comes to connect with a lender, you’ll be sure that your client is ready!

Provides Valuable Information

Today there are two underwriting standards that you can qualify with. One, the Qualified Mortgage (QM) that utilizes the traditional underwriting standard. The second, NON-Qualified Mortgage (NON-QM), which offers more possibilities for you to qualify. NON-QM underwriting does not follow the traditional standard. Mortgage Number utilizes both. This convergence provides the best of both worlds when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage. This collective greatly enhances people’s qualifying reach, allowing them to do more when it comes to qualifying. Mortgage Number allows users to tap into the power of both lending continuums and know where they fit in today’s lending environment. This is a perfect tool for financial advisors to use with their clients.

As a financial advisor, ensuring that your clients are following the right path toward their goals is essential, and if you have a tool that will make the process more easy, efficient, and accurate, why not use it? Mortgage Number is free and available to everyone! We hope this blog helps you see how financial advisors can use mortgagenumber.com to benefit their clients! To use this valuable tool, click here.

Buying your first home is a big step in your life. Whether your reason is to build generational wealth or create an investment to sell when you retire, it’s a great decision. However, there are a few steps you need to take before you can kick back and enjoy your new home. This blog will go over five tips for first-time buyers to help prepare you for the journey that lies ahead.

1. Be Sure You’re Ready to Commit to A Loan

The most important tip first-time homebuyers can get is to be sure that they’re ready! Buying a home is a big decision, so you have to be fully dedicated to it! The average mortgage loan term is 15 – 30 years. While it doesn’t always mean having to stay in your home for that long, it’s still a significant commitment. Don’t be 50% sure or 70% sure—be 100% sure that you’re ready for homeownership before you take on a mortgage! A few questions you can ask yourself before making a decision include:

• • Am I ready to commit to this home and city for at least five years?
• • Do I have emergency funds that can cover at least three months of expenses?
• • Do I have a stable income?

If you answered no to any of these questions, you might want to hold off the plans for now. Keep on saving and doing research until you feel that you’re ready!

2. Check Your Mortgage Number

Now that you know that you’re mentally prepared for a home, you can get things going. However, it’s a smart idea to get insights on how financial institutions view you as a borrower first. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can be to your advantage when looking for a broker or lender. Knowing how the financial world views you as a borrower can save you time and money! All you have to do is input your financial information into our Mortgage Number Calculator, and that’s it! You will receive a mortgage number specific to you. With green, you qualify. The higher your mortgage number, the stronger you are from the lender’s perspective. With gray, you’re close, and with red, your financial situation needs a little bit of work. If you look like you’re in good shape, you can continue with the home buying process with confidence!

3. Maintain Your Credit

The next step is to get a mortgage pre-approval! Now is not a good time to open a new line of credit. When you apply for mortgage pre-approval, lenders will pull out your credit report. They’ll do it again before you close on the house. If they find that you’ve taken on another loan or line of credit, it could risk your final approval.

Be sure to keep paying your bills on time. We recommend not attempting to influence your credit rating for better or worse with any risky spending. Lenders want to see that your spending habits are consistent and can be relied on for future payments

4. Understand Your Loan Options

Did you know that there are several types of mortgage loans? The type you select will determine the type of house you can buy, your down payment, and more! The most common types of loans include:

• • Conventional Loans – This is the most common type of home loan. You can buy a house with as little as 3% down.
• • FHA Loans – This loan allows people to buy a home with less strict financial and credit score requirements. People can get this loan with a 3.5% down payment with a credit score as low as 580.
• • USDA Loans – These loans are for people who want to buy a home in a qualified rural or suburban area. People can get a USDA loan with 0% down. Subject to household income restrictions.
• • VA Loans – VA loans are exclusively for veterans and members of the national guard and armed forces. These people can get a home with 0% down.

5. Don’t Forget Closing Costs

Don’t assume that your down payment is the only thing you need to save up for to close your mortgage loan. You will need to cover closing costs before you take control of your new home.

Closing costs are expenses that go to your lender for arranging certain loan services. Common closing costs you might see include:

• • Escrow fees
• • Attorney fees
• • Pest inspection fees
• • Appraisal fees
• • Title insurance fees
• • Discount points

You can see your exact closing costs on a document called the closing disclosure. You can generally expect to pay around 2% – 5% of your total loan costs.

Buying your first home can be overwhelming. That’s why you should go through the process with confidence with the help of Mortgage Number! With Mortgage Number, you can be confident that you’re well equipped by taking the next steps with a clear understanding of how you fit into today’s lending environment. It’s free and at your disposal! We hope these 5 tips for first-time buyers help prepare you for your home-buying journey! Again, if you want to understand your overall strength as a borrower, Mortgage Number is the first-ever platform of its kind that simplifies mortgage qualifications! Click here to check our calculator out!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage loan?

 If so, it’s important to note that the process isn’t always similar to renting an apartment or getting a car loan. To avoid the disappointment of not getting approved for a loan after finding your dream house, we have compiled some bulletproof tips to help you get approved for a home mortgage loan. By gaining the knowledge and preparation needed, you can confidently enter the home buying process.

Start Building Your Savings

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage helps determine your price range and bidding limits. You’ll need to submit financial info such as W-2s, bank statements, and retirement accounts. Lenders may approve you for more than you can afford, so factor in all recurring costs. Don’t let a higher loan approval tempt you into buying a property you can’t afford. Stick to your budget to avoid a financial crisis. These tips on getting approved for a mortgage loan will help you navigate the process with confidence!

Reduce Your Debt as Much as Possible

When applying for a mortgage loan, it’s crucial to keep your debt-to-income ratio as low as possible, as lenders consider it one of the most important factors. To ensure your application doesn’t get denied, your monthly debts shouldn’t exceed 36% of your total monthly income. We recommend lowering your debt and paying off as much of your credit card balance as possible. This increases your chances of getting approved for a mortgage loan. Additionally, it’s crucial to avoid taking on new debt between loan approval and closing the sale. As lenders recheck your credit before closing. Remember that you don’t need to be completely debt-free, but reducing your debt will improve your chances of getting approved.

Monitor Your Credit Score

When applying for a mortgage loan, it’s important to keep an eye on your credit score, even as you work on reducing your debts. Homeowners often assume they have high credit scores, only to find out they don’t when they submit their application. To avoid this situation, we recommend checking your credit score and history before beginning the application process. Having a low credit score, missed payments, or derogatory credit information can lead to your application being rejected, so it’s crucial not to ignore these factors. Keep in mind that most institutions require a minimum credit score of 680, and they can deny your request if you fall below this threshold. By monitoring your credit score and working to improve it, you can increase your chances of getting approved for a mortgage loan.

Try Out Mortgage Number

Use our Mortgage Number Calculator to prepare for a mortgage loan. It’s a free and straightforward tool that shows you how lenders view you as a borrower. Enter basic information, and the calculator provides a number system and color dimension to illustrate your strengths and weaknesses. Green means you qualify, gray is close, and red needs work. Our calculator shows you what to work on to improve your chances of getting approved. Know this before pre-approval, purchasing, or refinancing. Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can get pre-approved with confidence.

Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Loan

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage is an excellent way to determine your price range and bidding limits. During the pre-approval process, you’ll need to submit various financial information, such as W-2s, bank statements, and retirement accounts. Keep in mind that lenders may pre-approve you for more than you can afford, so it’s essential to factor in all recurring costs like groceries, gas, entertainment, and more. Don’t let a higher loan approval tempt you into buying a property that you can’t afford in the long run. Sticking to your budget is critical to avoiding a financial crisis later on. We hope that our tips on how to get approved for a mortgage loan will help you navigate the application process with confidence! Get your mortgage number, it’s easy!

If you’ve decided it’s time to purchase your first home, we bet you have hundreds of questions! It’s one of the most significant milestones in life and will likely be the biggest purchase you make. To help break this enormous task into manageable pieces, we’ll go over the 9 steps to buying a home. As you may have guessed, the first step starts with research!

Step 1: Research, Research, Research

Search through real estate listings, magazines, and websites (like Zillow) to do some preliminary research. Look around at homes in your area, get an idea of pricing, and see how long they stay on the market. You can keep an eye on listings to see if they change their asking prices over time. After a while, you’ll get a good sense of housing trends and know what to look out for. 

Step 2: Use Our Mortgage Number Calculator

Before getting preapproved, purchasing, or refinancing, you’ll want to visit our website and fill out our Mortgage Number Calculator. This incredibly valuable tool will show you what your strengths and weaknesses in the mortgage environment are, and will help you understand how financial institutions view you as a lender. Our free Mortgage Number Calculator allows you to skip the complex processes and time spent getting multiple quotes and gives you an immediate and clear understanding of the opportunities that are available for you in the mortgage space! Our calculator will show you the likelihood of getting approved for a loan, and how to improve potential weaknesses. Once everything looks good, and our calculator gives you the green light, it’s time to move on to the next step!

Step 3: How Much House Can You Afford?

An important step in the home buying process is determining how much house you can afford. This is calculated by looking at your monthly debts, household income, and available savings. This process will help you determine if you need to pay off some debts or save up more because lenders tend to give out the lowest rates to those with low debt, substantial down payments, and high credit scores. In general, lenders don’t recommend looking for houses that cost more than 3-5 times your annual household income. This rule of thumb applies to buyers that make a down payment of 20% and have a moderate amount of other debts. 

Step 4: Get Prequalified for Credit

Once you know how much house you can afford, it’s time to look at how much you can spend. To get prequalified for credit, you’ll need to provide your mortgage banker with some financial information such as your income, savings, investments, and so on. After they review your information and tell you how much they can lend you, you’ll have an idea of your home price range target. Then you can get preapproved for credit, where you’ll need to provide documentation such as W-2s, bank account statements, and more. Remember, use the information you received in step 2 to increase your chances of getting preapproved!

Step 5: Start Looking for Homes

Once you know your price range, you can work with a real estate agent and begin searching for homes! Since you’re likely going to be touring a lot of houses, you’ll want to take photos or videos and make some notes on your phone or a piece of paper. Remember to not only look at the house but make a note of the neighborhood and surrounding area. How are the schools? Are there grocery stores nearby? How far is the commute from your job?

Step 6: Make an Offer

When you’ve finally found the home of your dreams, your real estate agent will help you with your offer. Real estate agents have extensive knowledge of the industry and great negotiating skills that will help you reach a fair price for the home. Once you agree on a price with the seller, the house goes into escrow while you complete the home buying process. 

Step 7: Get a Home Inspection

You’ll want to have the home inspected a couple of days after the seller’s accepted the terms. The offer will be contingent on the home inspector checking for any damage or problems with the home that weren’t originally disclosed. Depending on the results, you’ll either move on to the next steps or have the chance to renegotiate or withdraw your offer. You can also ask the seller to fix any damages that come up in the report before closing the sale.

Step 8: Choose a Mortgage Loan

Shop around and find a loan that works best for you. Everyone has different priorities, resulting in lenders offering many different loan programs. Whether you want to pay it off quickly, keep your payments low, or prevent your rate from changing, there’s a loan out there for you. 

Step 9: Close the Sale

If everything goes well, it’s time to close the sale and celebrate! During this step, you’ll get all of the paperwork in order and sign the final documents. Once the seller received the payment, it’s time to get ready to break out the cardboard boxes and packing tape!

We hope our blog about the 9 steps to buying a home helps make the process a little easier! Again, if you want to understand your overall strength as a borrower, Mortgage Number is the first-ever platform of its kind that simplifies mortgage qualifications. It’s completely free and incredibly fast!