This is the first post in a series of 5, expect the next posting soon. 

Are you ready to buy a home?

You can find out by asking yourself some questions:

• Do I have a steady source of verifiable income? Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is my current income reliable?
• Do I have a good record of paying my bills?
• Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments?
• Do I have money for a down payment?

If you can answer "yes" to these questions, you are probably ready to buy your own home.

The real estate market in central Florida is perfect for a home-buyer, there are a great selection of homes on the market, prices are stable and mortgage rates are near historic lows.  The real question is, are you ready to buy a home.  Lenders have been tightening their guidelines over the last 7 to 8 months in the wake of the sub-prime woes.   

Do I have a steady source of verifiable income? Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is my current income reliable?  The answer to all three of these questions needs to "YES" in order to qualify for a mortgage today.

Do I have a good record of paying my bills?  The answer to this question will be displayed with your credit report.  The better your record of paying bills, the better your credit score will be.  Lenders have been tightening their guidelines over the past 8 months and are no longer willing to risk lending to borrowers with "shaky" payment history.

Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments? If you do, this will dramatically lower the amount of financing you can obtain.  In general, you would want to have no long term debt defined as debt that will take over 10 months to pay off.

Do I have money for a down payment?  The short answer is you will be better off if you do, you will typically receive better rates and terms on your mortgage.  Although, most lenders still have 100% financing available through the "My Community" and similar type programs that are very prevalent throughout the industry but the criteria to qualify for these types of programs has changed over the 8 months. 

If you are a first time home buyerand have any questions about this blog post, please feel free to contact me at anytime, I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,                                                                                                                    Joe Bartolotta                                                                                                                                                                            Florida's Upfront Mortgage Broker