Hi friends. Thanks for joining me on the Money Girl Podcast. I'm Laura Adams, the

author of Money Girl Smart Moves to grow rich. If you're ready to become a homeowner

now's the time to get a great deal and finance it with an inexpensive mortgage.

Though making such a big purchase can seem daunting,

I'll show you how to buy a home in 10 simple steps.

We'll cover the first five today

and the next five in part two of this series.

Five years after the real estate market collapse of 2007. The vast majority of consumers still believe

that home ownership is just as important as it was before the crash. Following the

ten steps in this two-part series will help you save money and time

when you're ready to buy a home.

Step number one, build your credit.

Unless you can pay all cash for a home, you'll need to finance a portion of the

purchase price with a mortgage. How do you qualify for a mortgage? Well, home lenders take several

factors into consideration, like whether you have enough steady income to afford a monthly payment,

the amount of debt you already have, how much cash you can put down, the market value of the property, and your credit score.

Without a good credit score, you'll either be turned down for a mortgage or charged a high

interest rate. Paying just 1% more interest than you

absolutely have to can cost you over $45,000 on a $200,000. 30-year mortgage.

If you invested that money instead of paying it to a lender, you could parlay the savings

into over $150,000 with just a moderate rate of return.

So remember that if your credit isn't in good shape, you're not ready to buy a home.

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