Don’t Miss This Insightful Interview With Expert Lender Ricardo Torres

During a recent interview with expert lender Ricardo Torres, we unveiled a few interesting facts about the lending process that today’s homebuyers may be interested to know.

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Before buyers do anything else in their home search, the first thing they need to do is to connect with a great local lender. To help us illustrate why this is so important, we recently interviewed Ricardo Torres of Willow Bend Mortgage, who is an expert on the subject. Beyond the service lenders provide in terms of orchestrating the mortgage process, they can also offer buyers a wealth of information on topics related to home financing. Between worrying about their credit score and wondering how much money it will actually take to purchase a house to begin with, buyers tend to enter the lending process with a lot on their mind. Thankfully, these issues are exactly the sort of thing lenders like Ricardo deal with every day. The first matter Ricardo tackled during our brief interview was the issue of cost. According to Ricardo, buyers no longer need to put 20% down to secure a mortgage. These days, there are a number of loan programs out there that, depending on a buyer’s credit score, income, and certain other factors, allow them to put as little as 5%, 3.5%, or even $0 down.

The best way to determine what loan product will work best for your needs is to meet with a lender and get pre-qualified.

And, speaking of credit, Ricardo also tells us that lending standards are less strict than you might think in this regard, as well. Some loan programs allow buyers to qualify with scores as low as 580.

With this information in mind, remember that the only way to understand how it might apply to your specific circumstances is to meet with a lender and get pre-qualified. So if you’d like to meet with Ricardo and get started, please give him a call at (956) 739-5440 or visit www.rmtorres.com.

And, as always, if you have any other questions or would like more information about this or another real estate related topic, feel free to give our team a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Needs to Align for a Successful Home Purchase?

Are you ready to buy a home? If so, here are three steps that will get you closer to your goal.

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We’re reaching out to you today since you’ve kept in touch with us because you were looking to buy property and we want to know where you’re at. In order to make your move, there are three things that need to align:

1. Desire. You have to want to move. Maybe you’re sick of paying rent or you're crammed in with family or roommates. If your desire is high enough to take the next steps, it’s time to look at the second thing.

2. Income and credit. For this step, you’ll need to talk to a financial professional like Ricardo Torres with Willow Bend Mortgage. He can help you find out whether your credit is good enough and what kind of home you can afford right now. You can start the process right here, and he can help you get a pre-qualification. He will take a look at your credit, employment history, and income to let you know exactly what you can afford.

A pre-qualification will let you know what you can afford.

3. The house. This is the fun part. When you have the desire and you’re pre-qualified, that’s where our team steps in to help guide you through the process and find the perfect house.

If you have any questions for us, please feel free to reach out and give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

3 Tips to Ensure a Quick Home Sale

Today I want to share three tips that will help your home sell as quickly as possible. 

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How can you sell your home as fast as possible in 2018?

While many factors that affect how long it takes to sell a home are beyond your control, there are some things you can do to speed up the sale.

1. Price your home competitively. Your home is going to sell much faster if you price on the lower end of the average prices in your area. Additionally, pricing your home competitively could spark a bidding war, ultimately driving up your sale prices.

2. Complete any repairs that need to be done. This is also going to help keep your home from sitting on the market too long. Sprucing up your home prior to putting it on the market is just as important as actually listing it. Finish up all those little projects you’ve been procrastinating on for years. Buyers are going to be able to tell if you let a few projects go unfinished.

Complete any repairs that need to be done prior to listing.

3. Make sure the home is staged and decluttered. On average, staged homes sell 88% faster and for more money than non-staged homes.

These are the three tips that you need to make sure get done before getting your home sold. The other tip I would add is giving us a call.

If you have any questions for us in the meantime or you’re looking to buy, sell, or invest in McAllen real estate, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.