Tips to secure an affordable home loan

Zain Johnson speaks to Angie Saunders of Ooba Home Loans about the best ways to secure an affordable mortgage.

Listen below:

Saunders has tips for navigating the home loan process as a first-time home buyer:

• Improve your credit score, because it increases your chances of approval. Pay your loans on time.
• Avoid any new credit application before applying for a home loan.
• Save for a deposit: this might improve the interest rate offerings.
• Assess affordability based on your debt-to-income ratio.
• Get pre-qualified: knowing your buying power up front helps you shop for homes in your budget and increases your chances with sellers.
• Be prepared for additional costs such as transfer duties, legal fees and insurance.
• Get your documentation in order: sort out your proof of income, bank statements, proof of address, etc.

"Imagine if you needed brain surgery, you wouldn't see any doctor, you would see a specialist... It's the same with home loans. At Ooba Home Loans, we eat, breathe, sleep home loans... All we do everyday is home loan applications for customers, so we have numerous expert consultants that can guide buyers on how to strengthen their applications and how to put together their documentation that would make all the banks look at you favorably. We apply to multiple banks which create competition for the best rates."

- Angie Saunders, Regional sales agent - Ooba Home Loans

"We are dealing with the banks every single day so we know what campaigns and product offerings all the various financial institutions have. So, we negotiate on behalf of clients for those better offerings at multiple banks and we give clients choices. You have multiple quotes and multiple choices to decide what's best for you and your family."

- Angie Saunders, Regional sales agent - Ooba Home Loans

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.