Grandview Lending Inc. Offers Key Mortgage Questions

Navigating the mortgage landscape can be overwhelming, but choosing the right mortgage company is a crucial step toward securing the best deal for your home purchase or refinance. Grandview Lending Inc., a trusted mortgage broker in Indianapolis, offers invaluable insights into the questions you should ask prospective mortgage companies to make informed decisions.

Guiding Questions for Homebuyers

As you embark on your home financing journey, consider asking the following questions to ensure you partner with the right mortgage company:

How extensive is your lender network?
- Mike Farrell, owner of Grandview Lending Inc., advises, "Inquire about the breadth of the mortgage company's lender network. A robust network indicates that the company operates as a broker, capable of securing competitive rates by shopping around on your behalf."
What mortgage options do you offer?
- Delve into the company's mortgage offerings, focusing on any specialized products that align with your unique needs, such as self-employed bank statement loans or VA mortgages for veterans.
What are the estimated closing costs?
- While exact figures may vary, reputable mortgage companies should provide transparent estimates of closing costs, including a breakdown of their fees.
What is your closing timeline?
- If time is of the essence, inquire about the company's ability to expedite the closing process to meet your deadlines.
Can you outline the mortgage process?
- Gain clarity on the steps involved in securing a mortgage and understand your role throughout the process.
What are your availability and communication channels?
- Assess the company's availability and preferred communication methods, ensuring they align with your expectations and needs.

Partner with Grandview Lending Inc.

Grandview Lending Inc., a reputable mortgage broker serving Indiana residents, offers personalized mortgage solutions tailored to your unique requirements. With an extensive lender network and a commitment to transparency and exceptional service, we empower homebuyers and homeowners alike to achieve their real estate goals.

Mike Farrell emphasizes, "At Grandview Lending Inc., we prioritize providing transparent and knowledgeable guidance to our clients. Our team is dedicated to ensuring a seamless mortgage experience, from consultation to closing."

For expert mortgage advice and personalized solutions in Indiana, schedule a consultation with Grandview Lending Inc. by calling (317) 255-0062.

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Top Indianapolis Mortgage Broker Shares About Credit Score

You have probably heard people say before that it is important for you to have a high credit score when shopping for a home. But have you ever wanted to know the exact credit score you need? That is the question we are going to answer in this article. But first, let’s explain briefly why your credit score is so crucial during the home-buying process.

Why Your Credit Score is Important When Buying a Home

Your credit score shows lenders how likely it is that you will be able to make timely, full payments on your mortgage every month. As such, lenders use it as one of the major indicators that determine your qualifications as a homebuyer.

You need a certain minimum credit score to qualify for a mortgage at all. If you do not have that minimum score, you may not be able to move forward with a home purchase until you do. We will discuss this more shortly.

The higher your credit score, the more competitive the loan offers that you will receive. You will be able to qualify for a lower down payment amount and/or more affordable interest rates.

When we are discussing what credit score you “need” to buy a home, you will need to decide what, at a minimum, you are trying to accomplish.

Do you just want to be able to buy a home at any interest rate and down payment amount? Or are you aiming for a particular interest rate or down payment amount? If the latter, then you may need a higher credit score than the bare minimum to buy a home.

Ideal Credit Scores for Home Purchases

First, let’s talk about ideal scores for buying a home. Note that these are not the minimum scores. Those are quite a bit lower, as you will learn shortly. If your credit score is 740 or higher, in general, you should be in great shape for purchasing a home. FICO scores can range up to 850. So, if your credit score is 740 and you think you can improve it even more, go for it. It never hurts to have your credit score as high as it can go. Maximizing your score is what allows you to get the most competitive loan offers with the most affordable rates.

Minimum Credit Scores to Buy a Home

Thankfully, you do not need to have a credit score of 740 or above to purchase a home. The exact minimum score you need will depend on the type of home loan you want to qualify for as well as your lender. As an example, consider FHA mortgages. These loans are backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Because this is the case, the credit requirements are relaxed compared to conventional loans, while the loans still feature competitive interest rates. To qualify for a low down payment, you will want a credit score of 580 or above. You may also qualify even if your credit score is between 500 and 579, but the down payment will not be as low.

What if You Do Not Have the Minimum Credit Score to Buy a Home?

Hopefully, you will discover that you do have the minimum credit score to purchase a home. But if you do not, try not to worry. Your credit score is not something that simply happens to you. If you find your credit score is lower than you would like, you can be proactive in improving it. Do not forget to work on your other financial metrics too. You may be able to improve your debt-to-income ratio or demonstrate that you hold significant assets. Also, if your score is simply lower than you want it to be, do not assume you will not qualify for affordable rates. Loan products like FHA, USDA, and VA can bring you more competitive rates than you might expect.

How Can You Raise Your Credit Score Before Buying a Home?

Here are a few options for how you can increase your credit score to improve your homebuyer profile:

Check what is going on with your bills. Are you behind on any of them? If possible, catch up. Going forward, use automatic payments if you are forgetful. That way, you will not fall behind again.

Request the free credit reports you are entitled to once a year. Search them for errors and report any you discover.

Reduce your credit utilization ratio.

There are services that allow you to opt into reporting certain payments (i.e. your phone bill) to the credit bureaus. Sign up for these if it will benefit you.

Discover more ways you can increase your credit score when you are in the market for a home. Looking for personalized advice on how you can increase your credit score before you buy a home? That is something we can assist you with.

Get Answers to Your Credit Score Questions from Grandview Lending

Assessing your qualifications to buy a home on your own may be a challenge, especially without a perfect credit score. Grandview Lending can help. Call us to schedule a consultation, and we will let you know what you may qualify for based on your credit score and the other information you share with us. To get started now, please contact us at (317) 255-0062.

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Top Indianapolis Mortgage Company Shares About Homeownership

There are many advantages of homeownership that most people are aware of such as building equity, investing in the future, and having a place to call your own. But there are some advantages that are frequently overlooked. Let’s go over a few of them now.

Benefits of Homeownership

You may sometimes pay less to own a home. In many cases, buying a home will result in higher monthly costs than renting. But with the rising cost of rent these days, that is not always the case. Sometimes, you might pay less each month on a mortgage, and less overall even after factoring in additional costs. So, if you are holding back from buying a home because you assume it will be too expensive, look into it further. Indiana real estate prices are often very affordable. You may be surprised.

Use your home to generate revenue. Something else you can do when you own your own home is taken in tenants. You might even be able to make enough revenue from that to offset the cost of your monthly mortgage payment.

Spend more time outside. Last but not least, another benefit of owning a home is having a yard. Of course, if you have been renting a house, you already have access to that benefit. But if you have an apartment, you might have no outdoor space at all or just a small balcony. And if you have been renting a space at a mobile home park or the like, you might avoid spending time in your yard, since it isn’t really yours. When you own your own home, you can feel comfortable relaxing on your porch. You also have control of to garden and landscape as you, please. You can even grow some privacy hedges to make your yard more secluded.

Buy a Home in Indiana Now

If you are ready to experience the benefits of owning your own home, Grandview Lending Inc. can connect you with a suitable mortgage. To get started, please give them a call at (317) 255-0062 to schedule your consultation.

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Indianapolis Mortgage Company Shares Tips Tips to Refinance Your Mortgage

COVID-19 has brought a lot of difficulties and heartbreak, but there is a silver lining when it comes to real estate, and that is some amazing low mortgage rates.

For that reason, a lot of homeowners right now are looking into refinancing so that they can take advantage of those low-interest rates.

If you want to refinance successfully and qualify for the lowest rates possible, what steps can you take?

Refinancing in Today's Market

The following are a few tips that will help you make the most of the opportunity to refinance at today’s rock-bottom rates.

Make sure your credit is as high as you can get it.

The number one factor which lenders will look at when you try to refinance is your credit score. Just as that was the prime factor when you first applied for a home loan in determining your existing mortgage rate, so it will also be in determining your new mortgage rate.

If there is anything you can do to raise your credit score quickly before you apply to refinance, you may be a stronger candidate qualifying for lower rates.

Here are a few steps you can consider to rapidly boost your score:

Sign up for Experian Boost if you haven't already. When you opt in to this service, you give permission for your utilities to be calculated into determining your credit score. If you are current on your utility payments and have been for a long time, you could see a significant jump in your score. Best of all, it is instantaneous.
Check your credit report for errors. You would be surprised by how often they crop up. If there are mistakes in your report which are harming your score, simply submitting a correction could result in an improvement.
If your credit utilization right now is above 30%, see if you can reduce it below that threshold. Doing so may improve your score.
Have any debts which you could pay off right now without destabilizing your finances? If so, think about doing so.

After taking the steps above and seeing improvements reflected in your credit score, you can apply for a refinance while feeling confident in your borrower profile.

Just make sure that you do not wait too long to move on the process, because today's low rates may not stick around. In other words, do what you can to boost your score, but do not be a perfectionist.

Get paperwork ready.

Because rates continue to fluctuate, the faster you can move through the refinancing process and sign, the better.

Just as when you applied for your original home loan, there is going to be a lot of verification documentation necessary along the way.

Michael Farrell from Grandview Lending states, "One way you can move things forward is to grab all the documents you will need in advance. That means gathering the relevant tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, and so forth and having them ready to share with a lender."

By having those documents ready to present, you make it less likely that the lender will be waiting on you at any point during the process. You can immediately throw the ball back into their court.

Be ready to pay the closing costs.

See if you can get the funds you need to pay the closing costs for your refinanced loan upfront.

There are two advantages to doing so. The first is that if you get the funds ready in advance, this again will reduce possible delays as you close on the mortgage.

The second benefit is that paying closing costs upfront may reduce the rate on your refinanced home loan.

Use a mortgage broker.

Another recommendation to successfully refinance at the lowest rate you can is to go through a mortgage broker rather than a direct lender.

A mortgage broker can connect you to an entire network of lenders, shopping around on your behalf. This saves you the time and effort while giving you access to more competitive loan offers.

Refinance Now with Grandview Lending

Grandview Lending is a top-rated mortgage broker in Indianapolis with a well-established network of local lenders offering competitive mortgage rates.

They would love the chance to help you reduce the mortgage rate you are paying now and refinance for other great benefits to a home loan which ideally suits your needs.

To refinance today, call Grandview Lending at (317) 255-0062 to schedule your mortgage refinance consultation in Indiana.

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Grandview Lending Ranked in the Top Rated Mortgage Companies

We are excited to say that for the fourth year running, the website ThreeBestRated.com has listed Grandview Lending among its Top 3 Mortgage Companies in Indianapolis. The listing can be viewed at this link.

One of the Top 3 Rated Mortgage Brokers

If you are not familiar with ThreeBestRated.com, the name of the site sums up what it is all about. For every city, the site selects what it determines to be the three best service providers in every niche. This provides a short list for potential customers who do not want to wade through a lot of listings to go straight to the crème de la crème.

The first year that Grandview Lending achieved this honor was in 2016. We also were selected in 2017 and 2018 and are now listed for 2019.

Just as ThreeBestRated.com likes what we are doing here at Grandview Lending, we like what they are doing with their website. ThreeBestRated does not accept payments from business owners for listings. As the site explains in their FAQ, "We handpick the best businesses using our 50-point inspection. It includes everything from reviews, business reputation, cost, satisfaction, to general excellence."

We are very pleased that through such a rigorous inspection process, we continue to emerge on top for our area. Receiving feedback like this is a great confirmation that everything we are doing each day to serve our customers is paying off not only for us, but also for them.

From the Team at Grandview Lending

Speaking of which, the team here at Grandview Lending would like to say “thank you” to each one of you who have chosen to work with us as your Indianapolis mortgage broker. Because of your loyalty and amazing reviews and referrals, our business has continued to grow every year, giving us the chance to connect more amazing customers throughout the state with competitive home loans.

Please take a moment to check out our listing at ThreeBestRated.com. And thank you again both to our customers and the team at ThreeBestRated!