Mortgage Tips for a Tight Lending Market

Even home buyers with good credit may have trouble getting a mortgage these days.
By: Brad Reagan: REALTOR® Magazine Online
Here are three tips for home buyers in search of the best deal.

    • Conforming loans win. Keeping the loan below $417,000, the most that Freddie
      Mac and Fannie May will buy, saves big money since the rate on nonconforming
      loans is now a full point higher than for lesser loans. If getting the cash
      together is a challenge, Greg McBride, senior financial analyst with
      Bankrate.com, suggests taking out a small second mortgage or tapping an
      existing line of credit.

    • Don’t rock the boat. "Anything that might disrupt your credit history will be
      seen with a more jaundiced eye," says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president with
      mortgage research firm HSH Associates. He says avoid big credit card purchases
      or, if possible, major life changes.

    • Get multiple approvals. McBride urges borrowers to get advance approval from
      more than one lender, just in case the lender – not the borrower – goes
      under.