Basic Guide to Buying a House...Part 4

No Curves, Still Sexy with Edges

How to get a mortgage (a loan)

You generally need four things to qualify for a mortgage:

1.    Money to make the down payment.

2.    Income that's 2 to 3 times higher than your mortgage payment. (more on figuring mortgage payments in a minute)

3.    Two years of solid employment history (same job or field).

4.    Decent (not perfect) credit.

There are sometimes ways around this if you lack one or two of those, but usually not if you lack three or four.

All the costs involved in buying a home

$150,000 avg. 3-20% Cash down 80-97% Mortgage	1-8% of sale price Paid in cash at closing, or rolled into mortgage	$250-800 For app. fee, credit report, inspection, appraisal. Paid in cash

Cool and Sexy

Closing costs are fees charged by the companies and government offices which process the loan and the sale of the property. They're generally 1 to 8% of the sale price. You might be able to have the closing costs added to the mortgage so you don't have to pay them up front.

Where the money comes from

Sales Price	Down Payment( Cash) and Loan(Mortgage)
Closing Costs	Cash, or added to mortgage
Miscellaneous Costs	Cash

At right is a summary of what you've learned—to buy a house you make a down payment in cash, get a bank loan for the rest, and pay the closing costs in cash.

Cozy and Cool

Remember that you might be able to have the closing costs added to your loan instead of paying them in cash.

Remember also that the amount of money you have to put down varies depending on the type of loan you get and what the bank requires, and the closing costs vary too.