The First Step Before You Start Your Home Search
Jackie Mayo
IStock Photo Credit: Matt_Benoit
Are you wondering if you can buy a home, but don’t know where to start?
This article is our effort to help you create a plan that will lead you down the path to buying your first home done the right way!
The first place to start is assessing your credit situation. You can do this by going to www.annualcreditreport.com. The three credit reporting bureaus are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union and all participate in www.annualcreditreport.com.
This is a FREE resource created by the U.S. Congress in 2003 as an amendment known as the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act (FACTA) to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which allows a consumer to easily check their credit history every twelve months.
Since there are three credit bureaus, a good rule of thumb is to check your credit through one credit bureau at a time and follow up every four months with another credit bureau. This way you can keep an eye on your credit all year and not have to pay for a credit report. Please be aware that this free report from www.annualcreditreport.com does not come with a credit score. If you wish to have your score, you will have to pay for that score and can request the score when you pull your report.
You will be able to see all of your trade lines, payment history (how you make your payments and if you have collections or past due payments), inquiries and public information like a bankruptcy or judgement (if you have one) on your credit report. This should be enough for you to assess if you are in good credit shape or need to work on some things before you talk to a lender.
If you find yourself in need of credit repair, don’t despair! There are nonprofit agencies known as HUD Housing Counseling Agencies who can speak with you and help you better understand what you need to do to improve or repair your credit. HUD Housing Counseling agencies are often a free resource to those with low-to-modest incomes. However, these services are available to all customers. Some may charge a small fee to offset credit report pulls and housing counseling services. It is a great resource. You do not need to pay a lot of money for a credit rebuilding agency to assist you. Often credit repair businesses are in the business of taking your money and doing things that you can do yourself for free. There are some instances where these so-called credit repair agencies take a consumer’s money and do nothing at all. Beware of these type of scams to take your money.
If you are in the Knox County, Tennessee or the East Tennessee region, our partner agency, HomeSource east tennessee at www.homesourcetn.org is a great resource to assist with credit questions or other questions about buying a home. HomeSource east tennessee is a NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center and a HUD Housing Counseling agency and offers housing counseling services to residents in the East Tennessee region.
As real estate agents at Tennessee Valley Realty, LLC, we are ready to assist you in finding a home that meets your needs. Our expertise is working with first-time homebuyers in the Knox County, TN area.
Give Monica a call at 865-661-7790 or Jackie at 865-963-4770.
