Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
Credit! Credit! Credit!
Lacy had always been responsible with her finances. She always added to her savings and never spent more than she had. Always rejecting her favorite stores’ offers to sign up for their beneficial credit cards, Lacy felt in control of her money and liked knowing that she never had to owe payments or was accruing interest daily. She even bought her car in cash!
Now, it was time to start investing in herself and buy a home in Philadelphia. At 29 years old, she knew it was the smart thing to do. She had saved up enough money to make a down payment. Even though it wasn’t her style to owe monthly payments, she knew that buying her first house was the best decision. She never thought that being responsible and never signing up for a credit card would push her back a step in the home buying process, though.
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After talking to the mortgage lender her amazing real estate agent, Cherise “Agent Lady” Wynne had referred her to, she discovered that she did not have enough credit to be preapproved for a mortgage. She had two options: build up some credit or save more money and buy a house in cash. Getting impatient, especially after finding the home she wanted to buy, she decided to build up her credit. How was one to do that within a month and a half before her mortgage commitment was due? That was where the problem solving mortgage lender and real estate agent came into play.
Luckily, her mother had a good credit score and was willing to put Lacy’s name on some of her credit cards. Lacy also signed up for a secure line of credit through her bank and started making purchases on it right away. Of course, she paid these purchases off immediately. Every so often Cherise would give Lacy a call and check in to see how her credit-building plan was playing out. “Great! I have a feeling I’m going to get a pretty good interest rate for this mortgage.”
It was a day before the mortgage commitment was due and Lacy’s lender was nowhere to be found. She tried to reach out to him again and again, but there was no answer or return call. She started to get nervous. After all this work of trying to build up credit, why was her lender letting her down? She called Cherise, frantic. Cherise calmed her down and promised to chase down the lender and make sure the commitment would be in on time. Keeping her promise, Cherise emailed, texted, and called the lender consistently for two days.
Pulling through, the lender came back with the mortgage commitment and sent it to Cherise. Lacy, happily ending with a credit score of 800, was officially ready for next week’s settlement. Thanks to Agent Lady and her habit of always being on top of things, Lacy was able to buy her first home and maintain a high credit score.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) office and marketing assistant that helps home buying and selling clients have the best experience possible. She also shares her creative side by writing compelling short stories about the home buying process that are loosely based on actual client situations. Expect to receive emails and phone calls from Brittany if you decide to work with the Agent Lady team to buy or sell a home!
