If you and a spouse or family member are currently living together, but only one person is on the current mortgage it’s best to make the mortgage payments from a joint checking or savings account each month. This way, in the event that you need to refinance in the future and must use just the person who currently isn’t on the loan, you can do so without much hassle.

Banks and mortgage lenders often want verification that whoever is taking over the current loan has been making the mortgage payments for the prior 12 months. This also alleviates the need for title seasoning, so a borrower taking over the mortgage can simply be quit-claimed onto title at the last minute as well.

This issue often comes up when the primary borrower has a poor credit score and elects to use another person, often a spouse to refinance the loan to obtain more favorable financing terms. It can amount to big savings if the current titleholder/mortgagee has a low credit score and the spouse has a great score.

If your home is currently listed, or was previously listed in the last six months you may experience trouble refinancing your mortgage. Many banks and lenders shy away from offering financing to borrowers who were unable to sell their home on the open market. It really makes perfect sense. Why would a bank or lender want to finance your home at a certain value if no one is willing to buy it at that price in the real world?

Before you list your home, plan for the worst. Make sure you have enough cash reserves to pay your mortgage each month in the case that your home doesn’t sell. After all, you may be stuck with an unsold home and an adjustable-rate mortgage that’s due to rise.

If you do hit dire straits, there’s likely a lender out there willing to refinance your current loan, but it will likely be at a premium. If you must refinance, ask your bank, lender, or broker to grant an exception to get the deal done.

If you’re thinking about purchasing a home or refinancing, think about breaking the total loan amount into two. If you do two loans, you’ll secure a lower interest rate on your first loan, and often avoid certain adjustments that would come with a single loan.

You can avoid paying mortgage insurance, and if doing a refinance, you can do a rate and term refinance on the first loan, and a cash-out refinance on the second loan.

If you do two loans, often times you can get a larger amount of total financing as well. Instead of being capped at 90% on one loan, you may be able to break up the loan into an 80/20 and get a full 100% from your bank or lender.

That’s just a taste of the many creative financing options available if you break your loan up into two. While you will pay slightly more upfront for fees on the 2nd loan, the flexibility and possible interest-rate savings may make it the right choice.

If you’re a real estate investor, or simply own more than one property, it’s imperative that your bank statements are mailed to your primary residence each month. If you claim one house to be your owner-occupied property, but your bank statements and other financial materials are currently going to another one of your properties, the underwriter will surely question the occupancy, and your mortgage application will likely be declined.

In the eyes of the bank and the investor, it doesn’t make sense for a borrower to send bank statements, cable bills, and other financial statements to a property they don’t occupy for the sheer reason it wouldn’t make sense if you didn’t live there.

This is actually a huge red flag investors look out for to avoid buying securities that are tangled up in occupancy fraud. And for this reason, banks and lenders will likely decline a file if it’s listed as owner-occupied, or counter the borrower to submit the loan as an investment property.

Many borrowers submit a loan application listing one property as their primary residence, and when conditioned to provide verification of assets, they use bank statements from another property and the file gets declined for occupancy fraud.

Most mortgage programs offered with the majority of banks and lenders out there ask that you verify liquid reserves for “x” amount of months to prove that you have the available funds to make future mortgage payments.

However, many potential homeowners and homeowners alike apply for mortgages without seasoning their assets, and often run into problems when applying for a loan.

While you may not have the necessary verifiable assets, there are a number of ways around the problem. You can borrow money from a family member or a friend, and put it in your bank account two months before you apply for a loan. Or if you have cash lying around, get it in your bank account as soon as possible. This way the assets will be seasoned by the time the lender requests asset verification.

Though the assets may have come from a family member, friend, or any other unknown source, the money will be considered seasoned after two months, and thus won’t need sourcing. The issuing bank or lender will simply ask for a “VOD” (verification of deposit) which won’t show the source, just the average two-month balance of your account. The higher that number, the stronger you’ll look, and your odds of getting approved for financing will rise.

If you verify your assets, you’ll also save money by qualifying at a lower interest rate while increasing the amount a lender is willing to finance. It’s a must for anyone applying for a loan, and foolish to rush into a loan until you’ve got your assets in order. This goes hand-in-hand with credit organization.

Some audacious brokers even furnish borrowers accounts with assets as a way of solving these problems, although it’s a bit of a “black-hat” technique which is probably best avoided.

Remember that most lenders request two months PITI (Principal Interest Taxes Insurance) for owner-occupied programs, four months PITI for second homes, and six months PITI for investment properties.

Never rush into a loan until you’ve got everything in order. You’ll kick yourself for not making small adjustments that could save you hundreds to even thousands a month on your mortgage payment.

A little less than six months ago you could finance a home with no money down with few problems. Even if you had marginal credit, no assets, and a relatively soft employment history.

These days you’ll spend a lot of time shopping for 100% financing even if your the most well-qualified borrower out there. You may even fail to find one bank or lender willing to offer you financing without a down payment.

The reason is because many of the banks and mortgage lenders offering 100% financing were losing money when homeowner after homeowner failed to make the first payment, leaving the bank with the keys and a vacant property.

This scenario seemed to be so common that many banks and lenders offering 100% financing closed down, or simply withdrew the program to avoid shutting their doors.

It seems many homeowners were willing to buy properties with zero down in the hopes of turning a quick profit, but as home prices slid, borrowers simply walked away with little more than a credit ding.

Of course, 100% financing will come back, this time with higher interest rates and mortgage insurance that protects banks and lenders in the case of a default or foreclosure.

While it may not be as easy to qualify as its predecessor, it should stick around a bit longer with protections in place for the banks and lenders offering it.

So you’re planning on getting married next year, and you just need to find a perfect house before that magical day. There’s no possible way you could continue to live in an apartment or simply rent once you’re married!

Why do newlyweds have this mentality? Is it the seriousness of marriage, or the need for a solid foundation to begin raising a family? Either way, one shouldn’t buy a home simply because of a recent or looming marriage.

You should buy a home when you have found the right property and are financially able to go through with the purchase.

These days new couples rushing into home purchases because they’re engaged or newly married. This seems like a huge layer of stress to pile on top of an already stressful period. Buying a home is a huge commitment, and could lead to arguing and fighting, which is no way to start a marriage.

A wise couple should organize their finances, check and fix their credit, and do a lot of debt-to-income and valuation homework before buying a home. It doesn’t make sense to rush into the purchase of a new home simply because your status changed.

You certainly shouldn’t start your marriage off with a rash decision just because it’s the “normal” way of doing things, or because other couples or family members pressure you to buy a home.

Take your time and do it right.