Prepare Your Finances Before Buying Your First Home

Thinking about buying your first house? To make the preapproval process seamless, gather these financial documents:

• Your credit report – Obtain a copy as early as possible and scour it for accuracy. If time permits, pull your credit report three months before you seek pre-approval so you have time to correct any issues or mistakes. Each major credit bureau must provide one free credit report annually to consumers requesting a copy. To obtain a report visit annualcreditreport.com. Usually, it works well to order one report every four months from a different credit bureau. But when your plan is to buy a house, check all three at once. Save up your “free” reports in the year until you’re ready to start looking for a house. Your goal is to identify discrepancies between the reports as well as to monitor your credit standing.
• W-2 forms – Make copies from the past two years.
• Paystubs – Copy your two most recent ones.
• Financial account statements – Collect statements (including retirement accounts) from the past few months.
• Lines of credit – If you have opened any in the past six months, you’ll need copies of those statements as well, since they might not show up on your credit report.
• Information on vehicles you own – Include make, model, and resale value.
• Credit card account information – Include numbers and types of cards, balances and minimum payments.
• Auto-loan account information – Include account numbers and statements.
• Other loan account information – Think student loans and personal loans.
• Gifts– If you’re fortunate enough to have any money for your down payment gifted to you, identify how much and where it will come from. Be prepared to document that it’s a gift and not a loan.

Once you have all your documents and personal financial information assembled, you’re ready to get preapproved at Madison County Federal Credit Union. Stop in or apply online today.