3 Key Factors That Affect Your Home Loan Eligibility

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A home loan can put a prospective homebuyer on the fast track to owning their own home by giving them the resources they need to move into a new home, and lenders will commonly offer up to $500,00 in financing to qualified applicants.

However, not everyone is eligible to receive the same amount of funding from lenders based on their individual circumstances. There are a range of considerations that go into the borrowing power of a given applicant when seeking out a home loan such as amount desired and credit score, but there are a few less obvious factors that can make or break a person’s ability to secure funding for the home of their dreams.

Income and Resources

The income and resources of an applicant are perhaps the most important aspect of their eligibility for financing, as they give a good indication of a person’s ability to repay the loan when it comes due. Direct salary as well as investments, inheritances and other income types are all commonly considered, and good ratings in this area can often offset lackluster evaluations in other facets.

Banking History

An established history with a lender can give a prospective home buyer a fighting chance of securing the necessary funding. Banking institutions see each borrower as a risk of lost investment to a certain degree, but an existing banking relationship gives a lender familiarity with an individual and their financial habits, and so it can be a good idea to seek out a home loan at an institution at which there is an active bank account in good standing already in place.

Down Payment

The amount of an applicant’s down payment can give them tremendous flexibility where securing a home loan from a bank is concerned. Lenders will commonly finance up to 95 percent of a home transaction, and so virtually any applicant should have at least 5 percent of the desired loan amount available at the time of application.

Of course, any amount significantly above this figure bolsters the borrower’s leverage, and a larger down payment now can mean smaller monthly payments and a lower interest rate later. The house and land packages in Perth in particular, can be far more manageable, it’s worth doing some research to find the best deal.

While it is possible for prospective homebuyers to obtain a home loan even if these critical factors are not necessarily in their favor, the available options for these individuals are often unattractive, as they can include high interest rates, uncommonly extensive repayment periods, exorbitant penalties and other undesirable terms. The amount a person can borrow from a lender is effectively unlimited in theory, but in practice, the borrower can only receive what the bank is comfortable lending.

Will My Homeowner’s Policy Cover Damage to My Friend’s Belongings?

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Homeowner’s insurance is a necessity for anybody who owns a home or has a mortgage. The policy will protect you in the event that your home is damaged from any number of factors beyond your control, including storms, fire, falling trees, wind damage, and more.

Your home is a huge investment, and it’s important to protect its value. If a storm damaged your home so badly that it would cost you a fortune to fix, not only would you have lost the value of the home to the storm, you’d still have a mortgage on a property that is no longer worth what you owe. For all of these reasons, it’s important to have homeowner’s insurance.

An HBF homeowner’s insurance policy not only protects the physical structure of your home, but also its contents. Policies differ on what they cover—you always get what you pay for—but for the most part, your home’s contents are covered in the event of a storm or similar event damages the home so badly that valuable possessions inside are also damaged. For instance, if a tree smashed through your roof and allowed rainwater to pour in, damaging expensive electronics, you would likely be covered.

So your homeowner’s policy would be pay for a new roof, new flooring, and a new TV to replace the one that got washed away. Insurance companies encourage the insured parties to keep a detailed list of valuable items in the home along with receipts so there’s no question about what is in the home when it comes time to file a claim.

But does your homeowner’s insurance policy cover the belongings of visitors to your home while they are staying with you? Let’s say you have friends or family staying with you for the weekend, and a burst pipe floods the guestroom soaking everything on the floor, including your brother’s brand new laptop. Can you get your homeowner’s policy to pay for a replacement? In general, yes, your brother’s computer is covered under the policy and is eligible for a claim.

However, to make sure there are no hiccups in the claim process, it’s important that you contact the insurance company to request this coverage to begin with. Some policies may include coverage for guests and other visitors by default, but many policies will need to have this coverage added to it as a separate rider.

So you’ll have to decide if visitor and guest coverage is worth it to you to pay a little bit more. If you frequently have guests over that tend to bring expensive items like electronics or jewelry, it might make sense to make sure you have the proper coverage. Covering your visitor’s possessions would certainly put your mind at ease if you’re worried about theft, for example. However, it might also be redundant if your guests already have their personal belongings insured by their own policy. Your choice depends on how frequently someone visits your home and what they tend to bring with them.

Add Up Your Household Energy Savings

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We’re deep into the hot summer months.  Air conditioners across the country are doing overtime keeping our homes and businesses cool and comfortable and keeping the heat outside.  Unfortunately, it won’t be that much longer before we’re turning on the heat and repelling the cold of winter.  All of that comfortable air, hot or cold, comes with a cost.  Sometimes you’ve got to do what you can to find whatever energy savings you can.

Here in the northlands of North Dakota, we’ve got plenty of options for powering our air conditioners and furnaces.  Predominately, we use natural gas for heat and electricity for the air conditioning, but also have options for dual gas/electricity appliances.  Our house uses electricity for AC and gas for the furnace.  (If you’re trying to compare services, using something like this energy conversion calculator can help figure out which service is really the better deal)

Add up Energy SavingsIf you’re looking for energy savings, comparing services is a great place to start, but there are some other ways that you can help cut the cost of your energy and make it’s impact on your wallet a little lighter.

Adjust the temperature

Adjusting the temperature on the thermostat a few degrees can reduce the amount of time that the air conditioner runs in the summer or the furnace runs in the winter.  Turn the thermostat up a few degrees in the summer and use some small fans to help move the air around to adjust the comfort level.  Do the opposite in the winter.  Turn the thermostat down a few degrees and use blankets and heavier clothing to help adjust your comfort level.

Invest in thermal shades

Even if you have a really efficient home, you’ll still lose thermal mass.  And the biggest culprit for that is your windows.  Investing in thermal shades and blinds can help keep the heat out in the summer and the cold out in the winter.  They’re more expensive, but unless you’re redecorating your house every year, they’ll last years and make up for the added cost in energy savings.

Program your energy savings

Does it matter to you if your house stays nice and cool during the summer while your at work?  Or nice and warm in the winter?  If we’re honest, we really only want our house warm or cold when we’re there.  If the house is empty for 8 hours or more a day, there’s really no reason to waste all that energy while we’re gone.  Buying and installing a programmable thermostat is the best way to be able to adjust the temperature while your away and still assure that your house is comfortable when you return for the day.  Set a schedule to adjust the temperature up or down by 5-10 degrees while your out of the house (or sleeping) and to return to your “comfortable” temperature just before you return home.

Spread the cost out

Once you’ve maximized the full energy savings potential, you still won’t be left without any energy costs.  There’s still going to be a bill showing up each month that will need paying.  If you’ve got one energy supply feeding your air conditioner in the summer and another feeding your furnace in the winter, like I do, chances are your bills will spike during the hottest and coldest months of the year.  Most utilities will have some sort of payment system that will allow for you to pay an even amount each month.  We’ve got both our electricity and gas accounts on such a program.  We pay a relatively flat rate each month to each utility, and avoid paying large bills during the extremes of the seasons.

What other ways do you employ to create energy savings for your household or business?