Owning your dream home need not just be a dream. You can own it with a home loan offered by any number of financial institutions to help meet the shortfall between the purchase price of the home and the down payment that you provide!

The two types of home loans or mortgages that you need to know are:

Fixed rate mortgage: Home loans of this type carry a fixed rate of interest throughout the term of the loan. Your monthly payments remain constant making budgeting easier.

Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM): In this type of mortgage, you monthly payments change with each change in the interest rate. ARMs have a lower interest rate than fixed rate loans, thus, qualifying you for a larger amount.

Tips for obtaining home loans

* Avail the services of a mortgage broker who can use established relationships to negotiate a favourable interest rate.
* Pre-qualify your mortgage so that you have a jump start towards acquiring your home as you will know the amount that is available to you for making the purchase. By pre-qualifying you can lock in the interest rate for a certain period. If the interest rate falls, you get the lower interest rate. The interest rate will be the same, even if it rises during the pre-qualifying period.
* Ensure that you have a good credit history. Obtain your credit report from a credit rating agency to assess your credit score. Get any errors that you notice corrected immediately as it could give you a better credit rating. A high credit score can help you obtain a lower interest rate.
* Ensure all your documentation such as your latest pay stub, proof of down payment amount, property purchase agreement, title deed is in order.

If you already own a home but you do not consider it to be your dream home, you could use a home improvement loan to enhance its market value, sell the home and repay your home improvement loan and then buy your dream home! Home improvement loans are secured against your home equity, thus, protecting lenders interests.

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