
Your offer will detail how much you plan to put down in earnest money with your offer, your down payment, and how much you plan to finance. When you find THE ONE, your agent can help you structure an offer. Your agent can help you understand which homes are likely to be good matches and schedule showings. With your pre-approval in hand, it’s time to visit properties that fit your criteria (e.g., house size, lot size, location). Knowing this amount will save you time since you’ll be able to focus on homes in your price range. Lenders use this information to determine how much credit you can qualify for.

Your credit report shows your credit accounts, payment history, and your credit score. To pre-approve you, the lender will ask some questions and pull your credit report. It shows your agent and sellers that you’re a serious buyer and can be advantageous in hot markets where sellers may be considering several offers. You can even start the process online by finding a local lender on Zillow.Ī pre-approval is a letter from a lender that indicates you can qualify for a loan of a certain amount. If you haven’t done so already, contact a lender for a pre-approval. Whether you’re at the start of this journey, or nearing its end, we hope this guide will help you feel ready and at ease. But just in case you’re looking for backup, we’ve assembled the steps you can typically expect and what you’ll need to do. Most likely, you’re surrounded by professionals who’ve been through this before. Or worry that if you forget to send a document or make a call, you’ll derail the process.įirst of all, relax. You may wonder what’s going to happen next. You’re probably feeling a lot of emotions right now. Do you need any more checks, check registers, return address labels, or a new checkbook cover? Current Catalog has a variety of novelty checking essentials for you to browse online.So you’ve decided to buy a new home - congratulations! While you’re thinking of your checking account, take a quick inventory. Plus, you can sync several accounts together - perfect for spouses who use one another’s accounts regularly. ClearCheckbook stores information in the cloud, so it can be used on your smartphone, tablet, and desktop computer, making it easy to access your financial information from a variety of sources. Schedule bill payments ahead of time, get email reminders of upcoming bills, and track how you spend with this nifty app. As a bonus, you can add photos of receipts to make record keeping paperless! ClearCheckbook: It’s perfect for small business accounts since the data can easily be transferred to Quicken, Excel, and other accounting programs. Keep things simple and manage daily expenses and incoming cash with this easy app. You can include as many accounts as you want, rollover extra money from one month to the next, and see your stats in various currencies - which is perfect for avid travelers! QuickBank Checkbook:

This Android-based app lets you see all your financial information, including retirement investment totals and trading options, in addition to your personal checking and savings accounts details. This is crucial if you’re trying to develop a budget or overhaul your current retail therapy habits in addition to balancing your checkbook. WalletWhiz:ĭoes your entire life revolve around a calendar? Then so should your finances! WalletWhiz has a calendar view that makes it easy to see spending patterns based on days of the week. You can also set up a savings program so the money is automatically withdrawn and deposited into savings before you can spend a dime. You can set up budgets for everything from utility bills to how much you want to spend each pay period on dining out or buying clothes. Intuit’s financial app, Mint, makes it easy to stay on top of your cash flow. Whew! That’s a lot of transactions to keep track of! Thankfully there are plenty of apps for balancing your checkbook and keeping your finances up-to-date so you can instantly review your deposits and payments. You slide your debit card at the coffee shop, mail a check for the monthly mortgage, pay the credit card bill online, and get your paycheck auto deposited.
