Are you prepared to buy your home?

Joe Bartolotta Florida's Upfront Mortgage Broker Direct 407.340.0220 http://www.joebartolotta.com/

This is post 1 of 5 in the home-buying process.

Are you ready to buy a home? Ask yourself these questions.

Do I have a steady source of verifiable income? Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is my current income reliable?
Do I have a good record of paying my bills?
Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments?
Do I have money for a down payment?

If you can answer "yes" to these questions, you are probably ready to buy your own home.

The real estate market in central Florida is perfect for a home-buyer, there are a great selection of homes on the market, prices are stable and mortgage rates are near historic lows. The real question is, are you ready to buy a home. Lenders have been tightening their guidelines over the last 7 to 8 months in the wake of the sub-prime woes.

Do I have a steady source of verifiable income? Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is my current income reliable? The answer to all three of these questions needs to "YES" in order to qualify for a mortgage today.

Do I have a good record of paying my bills? The answer to this question will be displayed with your credit report. The better your record of paying bills, the better your credit score will be. Lenders have been tightening their guidelines over the past 8 months and are no longer willing to risk lending to borrowers with "shaky" payment history.

Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments? If you do, this will dramatically lower the amount of financing you can obtain. In general, you would want to have no long term debt defined as debt that will take over 10 months to pay off.

Do I have money for a down payment? The short answer is you will be better off if you do, you will typically receive better rates and terms on your mortgage. Although, most lenders still have 100% financing available through the "My Community" and similar type programs that are very prevalent throughout the industry but the criteria to qualify for these types of programs has changed over the 8 months.

If you are a first time home buyer and have any questions about this blog post, please feel free to contact me at anytime, I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully, Joe Bartolotta Florida's Upfront Mortgage Broker

I am still here at Fidelity Mortgage Services

Hello Everyone,

With all the turmoil in the real estate industry and specifically the mortgage industry, I just wanted to let you know that I am still here at Fidelity Mortgage Services. Since we are affiliated with a bank, we have not been exposed to the same degree of vulnerability as brokers have been.

If I can do anything for you, something as simple as answering a question you have or assist someone you know with obtaining a mortgage for purchase or refinancing, please give me a call or email me.

I'll be using this blog site to post valuable information, please bookmark this site and look for my bi-monthly email updates.

Don't forget my personal website, click here to visit

Thanks for viewing my first blog entry and leave a comment if you are so inclined.

Respectfully,
Joe Bartolotta
Florida's Upfront Mortgage Broker
Fidelity Mortgage Services
Direct 407.340.0220
email: joe@joebartolotta.com
website: http://www.joebartolotta.com/