First time home buyers often face some common barriers to qualifying for a new loan: poor credit, feeling a bit overwhelmed, and a lack of knowledge about available options. Here are 5 tips to get you on the road to home ownership.

Tip #1: Start now to improve your credit score: Having a low credit, or FICO, score is one of the biggest barriers to qualifying for a mortgage for first-time buyers. This is even true for people who have perfect payment histories and very little outstanding debt. Why? Because those two items only make up 65% of your credit score.

The remaining 35% of your score reflects your status in these areas: length of credit history, amount of recently-approved or “new” credit, and variation in types of credit currently extended to you. All of these latter three factors particularly affect first-time buyers. What to do? Start improving your credit score right away.

Tip #2: Educate yourself about all of the loan factors: If you have never applied to or been accepted for a home loan before, it is natural that you may not know about all of the factors to consider when applying for a loan. There are multiple ways to structure your loan and a myriad of variables above and beyond just the rate you are getting. If you are just calling around asking for a good rate, you will likely get into a mortgage situation that does not take into account all of your needs. Make sure you educate yourself about all of the options available to you before you start making phone calls.

Tip #3: Be persistent despite feeling overwhelmed: For those who have never owned a home, the idea of borrowing $100,000 or more can certainly sound daunting. This feeling of being overwhelmed can often cause would-be borrowers to put off applying for a mortgage for yet another year. If this is you, it means just another year you will not be building equity in or enjoying your new home. It is natural to feel a bit overwhelmed, but make sure that this feeling does not stop you from moving forward and making it happen.

Tip #4: Learn about unique financing options: Did you know in many cases it is possible to borrow against your IRA without incurring any sort of early withdrawal penalties? This is a privilege that people buying their second or third home do not have. Also: many locales have their own first-time buyer programs that give substantial incentives for people in your situation. Make sure you know all of your options before making your decision.

Tip #5: If you get turned down, call at least 10 more lenders: Nobody likes to be rejected for a loan. But, if you are rejected the first time, call 10 more lenders. It is not the case that one size fits all and the situation of each lender is unique in terms of your eligibility. Also, contrary to popular belief, multiple credit report queries in a short span like 2-3 months from multiple mortgage lenders will not hurt your credit score.

Buying your first home should be an exciting, rewarding experience. By improving your credit score, being persistent in the process and educating yourself about your options, you could soon find yourself in the home of your dreams with a payment you can afford.

By: Jed C. Jones Ph.D.

FHA home loans are by far the most popular mortgage loans available. FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration and is a government agency. These FHA home loans are generally loans that are funded by a federally qualified lender, but are insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Although a FHA Home Loan is easier to get than a conventional mortgage loan there are certain FHA Loan Qualifications.

FHA home loans are so popular because they will allow you to finance your home purchase with having much less than the traditional twenty percent down. You can have as little as three and a half percent. This really allows more people to be able to own their own home.

Once you have decided that this might be the way to finance your home purchase, you need to make sure you can meet the FHA loan qualifications.

Even though FHA home loans are the easiest type of loan to qualify for, you need to be able to meet these basic FHA loan qualifications.

1. The first FHA loan qualification is at least two years of consistent income. Most preferably from the same employer. Once you can prove your employment history, lenders also like to see that your last two years of income has at least stayed the same or even better if it has increased.

2. The next qualification is that your credit report should not have any more than two thirty day late payments in the last two years. Lenders would ideally like to so no late payments on your credit, but one or two will still be allowable.

3. Have a bankruptcy? Don’t worry, one of the FHA loan qualifications covers this area. If you have any bankruptcies on your credit, you might want to wait at least two years since it’s been discharged.

While you are waiting for your two years, you need to also show perfect credit since the bankruptcy too. As for previous foreclosures, lenders would like to see a minimum of three years of perfect credit since the foreclosure.

4. And lastly, your new mortgage payment shouldn’t be more than thirty percent of your gross income.

Those are the FHA loan qualifications on a very superficial level. Generally, these loans are the most popular because the FHA loan qualifications are so easy to meet. They are specifically designed for the average American that is really looking to purchase a home. They do not need to have ton of money down and you don’t have to have absolutely perfect credit to qualify.

So if you are looking to purchase a home and you are looking for a mortgage loan, your best chance is a FHA Home Loan because it is the FHA Loan Qualifications are more lenient than a conventional loan.

By: Al Hardy

These home loans are available for Non Resident Indians who are either looking for a new furnished home, construction of home, land purchase for building a home or miscellaneous expenses. NRI home loans give life to the dreams of NRI’s with the best options available.

In NRI home loans, loan seeker pledges his valuable home as collateral to the lender which defines the limit of loan amount. Higher the home equity value higher will be the loan amount so borrower must get his home evaluated from the reputed dealers to know about the value of home.

Generally, under secured NRI home loans borrower can avail the amount that ranges up to