As a buyer you've found the house you wanted. You've submitted a contract and now you're ready to move forward with the process. You've got done with the inspections and you're going to keep moving forward with purchasing this property so I'm going to give you the 7 tips that you should not do when you're under contract. 

1. Do not apply for new credit. Do not go out and buy or put something on credit. Do not apply for a new credit card, do not apply for a new department or line of credit.

2. Do not move any money without a paper trail because what happens is if you have a lump sum of of money that's saved up to pay for a down payment, closing costs once you start moving that money around or money starts coming into that account and it doesn't have a paper trail, it's going to cause problems in your process of purchasing a home. Because you have to have a paper trail for anything that goes in or out of your account.

3. Do not pay a bill late or skip any payments. Sometimes things can be a little bit tight but at all costs do not pay a bill late. That's gonna affect your credit and it could affect you eventually purchasing the properties. 

4. Do not spend the savings or max out your credit card. So things are coming up, you have a lot of things going on - getting ready, you're under contract, you're ready to get this new house. Do not go out and spend the money you have saved on something else. Do not spend that savings on anything else. Have a pot of money already put to the side that is going to be for your home inspections and for your appraisal. Those types of money should be put to the side and you shouldn't have to touch that money until it's time for you to need it. So have that money separated from anything else you have going on.

5. Do not buy any big ticket item. We just came through labor day and sales were going on so what will happen is buyers will want to go out and take advantage of those sales. They want to buy some new furniture. They want to buy something new for their new house but I tell you - DO NOT DO IT. It's gonna affect you again because you're gonna buy something, spend a bunch of money or take out a line of credit to purchase that new thing just because it's on sale. Also do not go out and purchase a new car because eventually it's going to affect your debt to income ratio. What will happen is when you purchase that new car that's going to take your debt to income ratio up higher which may not make you eligible or qualified for that loan anymore. So don't buy any big ticket items.

6. Do not change jobs. I know sometimes your job may suck but stick with the job until after you close on your property. Once you close on the property and the paperwork is signed, if you want to change your job by all means change your job but just ensure that you're getting the same amount of income so you can still afford to pay for that house that you signed for. You don't want to go into foreclosure or you don't want to get behind on the payments and eventually go on a foreclosure that'll be the worst thing ever.

7. Do not increase any debt. Your debt to income ratio plays a major part in you getting qualifying and getting to final approval for your loan so what you have to understand is even though you went to the pre-approval process, you still have a long way to go before you get to the closing table. You have to submit a lot of documentation - Tax Returns, Income Statements, Bank Statements and all that information has to go to the underwriter. If you're getting money from family or friends to help pay with down payment those have to have paper trails. It has to have letters stating where you're getting this money from because they're gonna dot their I’s and cross their t's so you definitely want to make sure you have a paper trail for any type of money. Increasing that debt is going to affect you in the long run affecting your debt to income ratio because it has to go to the final underwriter. Once all your paperwork is completed, go to the final underwriter and then once you go to the final underwriter, they're the ones to say yes or no if they're going to approve this loan and fund the loan for you.

So definitely keep those things in mind. It's a tough market out here so you don't want to finally go on the contract after submitting so many offers and then go out and make a mistake and do one of the seven things I just talked about.

If you're having further questions or you think about moving to Jacksonville, hit me up in the comment section below and let's talk about it.