Wishing you a safe and spooky Halloween!  

 The absolute BEST thing you can do when beginning your home search is to get pre-approved for a loan.  The only time this does not apply is if you will be purchasing your home in cash.  In that case, you should be able to set your budget yourself, and you simply need to submit proof of funds (in the form of a bank statement with your account number blacked out) to your Realtor.  

If you are in the majority, and will require a mortgage to purchase a home, this article is for you! 

There are numerous reasons why getting pre-approved before beginning your house hunt is a great idea.  I'll break down the top 3 reasons below:

Set Your Budget 

You may have a pretty good idea of how much monthly payment you can afford.  Say, for example,

Here's the September market update, which marks the end of the summer buying season.  Home prices peaked in August, and decreased slightly in September.  Some articles say that home sales boomed this summer due to fear that interest rates may rise, but it is also typical for more homes to change hands during the summer months.  84% of economics surveyed by Bloomberg believe that the interest rates will begin to rise in December.  Home prices are up about 10% over where they were at this time last year, which is why many people are deciding to sell in this market.  With the possibility of higher interest rates looming, you may want to discuss with your lender if now is a good time to buy before the rates jump up.