My lease will be up in 7 months. When should I apply for a loan to buy my first place?

Although seven months seems a long way off, My guidance is as follows: If your credit score is over 780 and you have at least ten open items of credit and do not have ANY late payments in the last 24 months, No Bankruptcy, Foreclosure or Repossessions in the last seven years or collections or charge-offs reported on your credit, you could probably wait until 90 days before you want to start the process which is 120+/- days before you need to close escrow. If not over 780 or if you have any of the forementioned negative events, start now. If you were my client, I'd have you start now. Knowing exactly where your credit score is now, it would be easy to guide you into doing a few things to get your score as high as possible. The better your score, the better your interest rate. It depends on what is actually in your credit profile, but earlier this year I closed on a loan that came to me in May of last year with sub 600 scores. When we locked the rate in February their middle score was 686 and the interest rate was nearly a full percentage point lower than it would have been with the lower score. Remember, you CAN apply to see where you are but you can hit the pause button once you start. Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z Team of NEXA Mortgage ~ NMLS 40586 ~ Certified by The National Association of Mortgage Professionals as a Certified Veterans Lending Specialist.Licensed in AZ, CA, GA, IL, OR & WA... In fact, NEXA is licensed in all states except MA and NY so give us a call. ~ www.ApplyYes.com 480-889-9000.

Good afternoon, studyabr21! The mortgage process itself takes on average 30 days, but you will want to get prequalified well before that. Your realtor will want a prequalification letter from your lender prior to showing you homes - this part of the process could take a while if your market is low on housing inventory. Your realtor can advise you on your specific market. Bottom line - I would recommend giving yourself a minimum of 60-90 days prior to your lease expiring. Remember, an experienced and knowledgeable realtor working along side an experienced and knowledgeable mortgage expert will easily be able to guide you smoothly through the home buying process.