Ride Your Finances – Ace Your Mortgage in 2017

If you want to definitely ace your mortgage this year, you can start following these tips now. Home buyers or homeowners in market place for a new home or home mortgage refinance loans will find these tips useful.

1. Live within your means 

Buying your largest asset – your home is exciting to say the least. What you spend on it is no one’s business! However, a little financial expert help shows you to be savvy enough to get a good, long lasting home with accompanying smarter finance. You don’t want to buy a lovely home only to sell it because you realize too late you cannot afford it.

A home property will appreciate in value but is not cash on hand liquid asset. Home mortgage loans should have affordable interest rates and principal amount. You need a cash cushion for emergencies over and above fitting your mortgage in monthly budget.

Take Action: buy a home with finance that leaves something in your current checking account.

2. Consider the best loan options for your financial situation

Options are for taking advantage. Whether you want new home mortgage loans or home mortgage refinance loans, choose so as to fit it to your personal financial situation. What worked for another may be totally wrong for you. Consult home financial experts.

Newly wed couples do well with shorter-term, adjustable-rate mortgage for keeping plans for future open. They spend less on initial lower fixed rates. They can sell when shifting due to career changes or need bigger home for kids.

Married couples with kids choose 30-year fixed mortgage because they expect to live there long. No worries of interest rate changes.

Take Action: always decide what will work best for your individual circumstances and financial goals.

3. Make sure your credit report is accurate

Your credit reports is your ticket to a home. If you are borrowing or refinancing a mortgage, credit reports indicate financial history, income and other debt obligations. Lower scores or poor financial track record will make you shell out higher rates.

Red Alert: Federal Trade Commission found that 5% of consumers have one or more errors on their credit report. Get your free annual credit reports from all the big three credit reporting agencies- Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – in the United States.

For a free copy of your credit report, you can visit Annualcreditreport.com. You should check for errors, report them for being corrected. This takes time so do it ASAP.

Take action: Boost your credit score with five ways to improve credit.

4. Evaluate all your debt before racing to pay off your mortgage

Banks and lenders expect their customers to service loans regularly. This means making regular and on time minimum monthly payments. This is true for all kinds of debt loans – credit cards, student loans, car loans as well as home mortgage loans. Skipping one or other will penalize you. You need to start saving for retirement by contributing to your 401(k).

Take Action: Experts plan to grow entire financial picture. Balance debt obligations with investment goals.