This a great time to purchase a home!!

    The brink of economic colaspe, record high home foreclosures, banks going out of business daily, and increased gas and food prices.  How can anyone afford a home?  Actually it is a very good time to purchase a home. Home values are down and the foreclosure rate is high. The housing inventory is at a surplus, and people are motivated to sell.  There are also many programs and products available to a potential home buyer, such as FHA, SONYMA, and a true 0% down payment program in Rural Housing.  Banks are lending money, but they want a little more paperwork than previous years.  So what!  Sure the self employed population who pay their bills on time are affected, but I am hoping this will be temporary.  It is vey important your loan representative has knowledge of loan programs and prepare you of things that could arise.  Here are a couple things that will help your loan experience to be a little easier.

1. Avoid opening any new credit cards, buying a car, or taking new loans.  Also refrain from using credit cards for any large purchases until the transaction is complete. 
   
2. Please make sure payments are made on time
3. Avoid transferring funds back and forth between accounts as much as possible.
4. Make sure you save all pay stubs and bank statments.  Statements printed from your computer are not accceptable forms of statements. If you need to copy from the bank, they must be signed and dated by a representative from the bank.
5. Funds need to be in your account for 60 days.  Cash is never an acceptable form of funds.  If you show large deposits, they need to be sourced.  This means you will need to show proof of where it came from, and paper trail in your account.
   
6. when receiving a gift, please provide a signed gift letter, proof of withdrawal from the donor, copy of the gift check, a deposit slip showing the money deposited in your banking institution, and a print out of the bank statement, stamped, signed, and dated by the bank teller.
7. Try not to start a new job until transaction is completed.

As always, if you are unsure of items needed, your loan representative should be able to walk you thru this process.