1. Do not cosign on a loan with anyone
Of course, you want to take care of your friends and family, but you also want to make sure that you are taking care of yourself. One way to do this is to not cosign a loan until after you’ve closed on your house.
2. Do not ignore questions from your lender or broker
Check your email daily and make sure that your voicemail is not full. You do not want to miss any important questions or other messages. It could be the difference between closing or not.
3. Do not quit your job or hire on with a new employer
This could show that you might not be as financially sound as they expected and result in you not closing on the house. If you do receive an offer, let the employer know you cannot start until after the closing has completed.
4. Don’t quit paying your bills
While this seems like a no-brainer, it’s definitely something that needs to be on the list. Keep paying your bills and paying them on time until you officially close on your new home and are out of the old one.
5. Don’t authorize too many credit checks in this time frame.
Your lender will have already run a credit check on you when you applied and got approved for your loan. While one credit check probably won’t affect your credit score, two or three could reduce it a little bit.
6. Avoid making large deposits or withdrawals to any of your accounts.
Deposits and withdrawals should remain stable. Things like paycheck deposits and payments already set up on automatic withdrawal are fine. Your lender wants to see consistency.
7. Wait to make any changes to your bank accounts until after you close on the accounts.
This includes both opening AND closing any accounts. Again, consistency is key.
8. Just like you should not make any changes to your bank accounts, you should also not make any crazy changes to your lines of credit.
Don’t open any new lines of credit and don’t put any major purchases on them either. The more credible you look, the more likely that your loan goes through.
9. We never recommend payday loans, but you should especially not get a payday loan when you are trying to close on a house.
Not only are these loans incredibly high-interest, but it also is not a good sign to lenders when you are trying to close on a house.
10. Thinking of a big purchase like a boat or car? Don’t do it.
Well, not now anyway. Any big purchase like these will throw a glitch in the closing process. Wait until after you have closed on the house to make any other big purchases.
You are almost to the finish line. Stay consistent with your money and communicate with your lender. You want your lender to see you as a good credit risk and the best way to do that is to remain consistent. Follow these rules and you will be a homeowner in no time!
