{"id":2012,"date":"2015-08-15T13:38:29","date_gmt":"2015-08-15T13:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2020-07-13T22:34:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T22:34:21","slug":"rent-tips-first-time-buyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/rent-tips-first-time-buyers\/","title":{"rendered":"Homebuyer Series Week 4: &#8220;I Want to Buy a Home-In a Year or Less!&#8221;  Best Tips for Paying Rent &#038; Why"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Rent Tips to Buy a First Home<\/h2>\n<p>In this series, we are providing\u00a0tips to avoid the Most Common Roadblocks to Home Ownership.\u00a0 So far we have discussed how to solve limited or bad credit, no down payment, and not having a budget.\u00a0\u00a0Therefore, lets discuss overcoming Roadblock #4.\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a0Not being able to document rent or housing history to show, as a buyer, that you are able to handle a new mortgage payment.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Ultimately in this article, we are going to provide you detailed rent tips.<\/p>\n<h2>Reasons to Document Rent History<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1900 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/PayRentWithCheck-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Rent tips To prove your rent history the best, pay your rent by check on-time each month\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" \/><\/h2>\n<p><strong>First of all, there are plenty of situations where a buyer does not have to prove a rent history.\u00a0 Program type and overall strength of the borrower&#8217;s file are examples for being exempt from proving rent history. \u00a0But there are very good reasons to have a documentable rent history:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paying rent monthly will prove you can handle a mortgage payment to a lender<\/li>\n<li>Making\u00a0a rent\u00a0payment is great training for a future mortgage payment<\/li>\n<li>You have a paper trail of payment in case there are disputes with the landlord<\/li>\n<li>On-time rent\u00a0helps a lower credit score or borderline approvable file<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Top 5 Rent Tips For Future Homebuyers to Follow:<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>A good rent pay history is very important.<\/strong>\u00a0 Besides credit scores, prior rent or mortgage history is the best indicator that someone will pay a new mortgage on-time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t pay cash for rent!<\/strong>\u00a0 There are several reasons not to do this that are talked about throughout this article.\u00a0 If you must pay in cash, read the following further down in this article.\u00a0 It is called &#8220;<em>Rent tips for payment in cash&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Always pay rent on time<\/strong>.\u00a0 On-time rent payments to a landlord is not going 5 days past the due date.\u00a0 But on-time to a mortgage lender is no 30 day late payments.\u00a0 So pay on-time to show you can make a housing payment.\u00a0 <strong>Make sure that the landlord cashes your check.\u00a0 <\/strong>Lenders don&#8217;t go by the date you write the check.\u00a0 Think about it- you could hold that check forever or it could bounce.\u00a0 Lenders go by the date that your check clears the bank so make sure you keep an eye on your bank account\u00a0to verify\u00a0that the check clears.\u00a0 If\u00a0the check clears\u00a030 days after the due date, lenders will count it that way.\u00a0 Plus paying late, will cost you a late fee to your landlord!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Leave on good terms with the landlord<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you leave the home or apartment in a mess or damaged, your landlord doesn&#8217;t like you, or any other negatives, your landlord could cause you problems in the future.\u00a0 Your landlord could delay or even ignore requests to verify\u00a0your rent pay history.\u00a0\u00a0If there is damage to the residence you could even get a judgment on your credit.\u00a0 Put yourself in your landlord&#8217;s shoes.\u00a0 How would you want tenants to treat your home?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Do your homework before you rent!<\/strong>\u00a0 Read the lease agreement thoroughly and if you don&#8217;t understand it, have an attorney or rental expert explain it to you.\u00a0 Have a walkthrough with the landlord and take pictures of the condition,\u00a0existing issues, and inventory.\u00a0\u00a0Then request\u00a0the landlord agree in writing to the condition before you moved.\u00a0\u00a0This will prevent charges for pre-existing issues upon moving out.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Additional Rent Tips to Qualify<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Document special circumstances during the lease<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0For instance, the toilets overflow and the landlord says you can get it fixed and take it off the next month&#8217;s rent.\u00a0\u00a0Get that in writing and pay the repair by check.\u00a0\u00a0This will create a\u00a0paper trail\u00a0that\u00a0rent was paid on-time and in full.\u00a0 This is rare, but what if the landlord says you can skip a month of rent? \u00a0Then transfer\u00a0the same rent payment into your savings account. \u00a0There are two reasons.\n<ol>\n<li>Show a lender that you paid yourself.<\/li>\n<li>Plus you\u00a0just added to your savings account!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay your utilities on-time too.<\/strong>\u00a0 In addition to the rent tips, there are several reasons to pay utilities too. First of all, if you are too late on a utility bill, they WILL report a collection on your credit which will hurt your scores a lot.\u00a0 In cases of a limited credit profile, a pay history on utilities can be used as alternative credit.\u00a0 So this could\u00a0help in a mortgage\u00a0approval.\u00a0 Read more about getting approved with limited credit &amp; using alternative credit on <a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/10\/approving-fha-loans-with-only-1-credit-score-or-no-credit-scores\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>FHA here<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/10\/approving-va-loans-without-credit-scores-or-with-limited-credit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">VA here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Plan on using the security deposit as savings<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you have to pay a deposit on the lease, use that as a forced way of saving money.\u00a0 So\u00a0when\u00a0the deposit\u00a0is refunded\u00a0upon moving out (refer to #4 above to ensure you get it back), stick it in\u00a0a savings account. \u00a0\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/26\/simple-tips-for-homebuyers-to-easily-save-for-a-down-payment-in-a-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Learn more savings tips that can save you up to $40,000 in a year<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pay rent to a family member <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">by check<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Lenders will obviously not take the word of a family member for your pay history.\u00a0 Normally a family member would not say rent was not paid on time<\/li>\n<li><strong>ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pay rent or a privately financed mortgage or &#8220;lease to own contract&#8221; by check.\u00a0<\/strong> Think about it. \u00a0If the seller (landlord) or the private mortgage holder has a chance to get the house sold, they could say\u00a0the tenant\u00a0paid like clockwork just to get it sold and\u00a0the tenant\u00a0may have never paid on time.\u00a0 \u00a0Finally,\u00a0lenders will not allow a verification of rent on these &#8220;non-arms length transactions&#8221;.\u00a0 All of this is for the same reasons.\u00a0 The landlord or private mortgage holder has a financial interest to gain.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Rent Tips for\u00a0Payment by Cash<\/h2>\n<h3>If you absolutely must pay rent in cash,\u00a0Here are\u00a0the BEST cash rent tips:<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t pay with cash on hand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>By paying with cash laying around, there is no way to prove the payer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Withdraw the exact amount of your rent from your bank account every month<\/strong>.\u00a0 This will be a way to paper trail\u00a0a rent\u00a0payment coming out of an\u00a0account.\u00a0 Any lender should take this as proof of payment.\u00a0 But, if\u00a0the rent\u00a0payment is $500 per month for instance, don&#8217;t pull $300 sometimes, $600 sometimes, etc.\u00a0 Be consistent and pull the exact amount of $500 out at the first of the month.\u00a0 If you need cash for something else at that time, make it a separate transaction.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Signed receipts are helpful\u00a0but not for\u00a0a mortgage.\u00a0 <\/strong>Mortgage lenders do not allow receipts.\u00a0\u00a0Anyone can buy a receipt book and write out 12 on-time receipts.\u00a0\u00a0So for this reason, they are not accepted by lenders.\u00a0 But having a signed receipt could be important in case you have a dispute with the landlord.\u00a0\u00a0This\u00a0would prove to the landlord or court that you paid the rent as agreed<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use technology to make your rent payments.<\/strong>\u00a0 There are lots of new ways to pay rent conveniently that is as good as cash to a landlord such as Paypal, electronic funds transfer or bank draft.\u00a0\u00a0These\u00a0options\u00a0are a great\u00a0way to pay as it can be scheduled to be paid on-time automatically.\u00a0 Even\u00a0using a debit card could work.\u00a0 But do not\u00a0pay by credit card because that is borrowing to pay your rent which doesn&#8217;t look good.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Even More Rent Tips for Cash Renters!<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Save your bank statements (with all pages) so you can show your rent history. \u00a0Because it can prove the rent is paid by consistent withdrawals each month.\u00a0 <\/strong>If you are missing a statement, banks can provide duplicates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t let the bank account\u00a0being used for rent\u00a0go negative<\/strong>.\u00a0 If\u00a0one chooses to pay by cash and prove the systematic\u00a0withdrawals through providing bank statements, that means the lender will not just see the last 2 months of statements but 12 months.\u00a0 These 12 statements will be scrutinized for issues such as NSF&#8217;s.\u00a0 So good reason to keep the bank account in good order at all times!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get a money order to pay the rent.<\/strong>\u00a0 Make sure that the money order is in your name, comes out of your bank account, and keep the money order receipts.\u00a0 In over 20 years, we can tell you that almost everyone that pays by money order is missing one or more.\u00a0 This creates a payment history gap.\u00a0 So\u00a0for some reason rent must\u00a0be paid\u00a0by money order, put them in a fireproof safe every month.<\/li>\n<li><strong>NEVER, NEVER, NEVER pay rent to a family member with cash!<\/strong>\u00a0 A lender will not take a verification of rent from a family member.\u00a0\u00a0The person verifying\u00a0the rent history\u00a0is not a disinterested party to transaction.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>As you can tell, paying rent by cash can be tough way to prove your pay history to a mortgage lender.\u00a0 It is certainly not an impossible situation.\u00a0 But\u00a0one can certainly see the positives of paying in other documentable ways.\u00a0 So if at all possible, pay\u00a0rent by check or other documentable format.\u00a0\u00a0The benefits are immeasurable.<\/p>\n<h2>Rent-free or living with family<\/h2>\n<p>Living rent-free with family or friends requires\u00a0a signed rent-free letter.\u00a0\u00a0First of all, the owner or tenant of the house must provide the rent-free letter. \u00a0Second, it must state that\u00a0borrower lives\u00a0there &#8220;rent fee&#8221;. \u00a0Finally, the\u00a0rent free\u00a0reason\u00a0is explained. \u00a0Examples include family members or friends helping out until\u00a0the buyer can find a house. \u00a0Keep in mind that when\u00a0there is\u00a0no housing payment, an underwriter could see it as\u00a0a negative.\u00a0\u00a0Payment shock is\u00a0a\u00a0large increase in housing payments. \u00a0Imagine going from $0 house payment to $1000 per month.\u00a0\u00a0No savings and living rent-free\u00a0is even worse.\u00a0 One could see why lenders care about payment shock.<\/p>\n<h2>It is Possible to Buy Without Proving Rent History<\/h2>\n<p>The reason is that automated mortgage approvals do not always require proof of housing payment history.\u00a0 This is especially true with higher credit scores and other compensating factors.\u00a0 Compensating factors include good liquid assets and low debt ratios.\u00a0\u00a0So why hope that rent verification is not required?\u00a0 Therefore,\u00a0it is\u00a0safe\u00a0to follow these rent tips and suggestions to be in position to buy a home.<\/p>\n<p>We hope that\u00a0this article has provided valuable rent tips that will saves money. \u00a0 By following these rent tips it will help\u00a0purchase the home of your dreams. \u00a0Additionally, this\u00a0will make your purchase go much easier. \u00a0Call us with your questions today. \u00a0Our goal is to make you a\u00a0<strong>happy homeowner in the near future!<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Additional Homebuyer Tips<\/h2>\n<h4>Now read the other articles in the Homebuyer Series &#8211; &#8220;I want to buy a home in a year!&#8221;:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/25\/homebuyer-series-i-want-to-buy-a-home-in-a-year-or-less-your-roadmap-to-get-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Establish Credit Worthy of Mortgage Approval for Any Type of Mortgage Loan<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/30\/homebuyer-series-step-2-i-want-to-buy-a-home-in-a-year-or-less-your-roadmap-to-get-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saving for a Down Payment and Emergency Savings<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/08\/homebuyer-series-step-3-i-want-to-buy-a-home-in-a-year-or-less-your-roadmap-to-get-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Creating a Budget to Afford and Qualify for a Mortgage to Purchase<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/22\/homebuyer-series-i-want-to-buy-a-home-in-a-year-or-less-why-using-a-good-realtor-is-so-important\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Why Using A Good Realtor is So Important<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/29\/homebuyer-series-i-want-to-buy-a-home-in-a-year-or-less-knowing-your-financing-options\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Knowing Your No to Low Down Payment Options<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/05\/homebuyer-series-i-want-to-buy-a-home-in-a-year-or-less-the-last-steps-to-be-ready-for-closing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Last Steps to be Ready for Closing<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[av_button_big label=&#8217;Apply Online for a Home Loan Approval Now&#8217; description_pos=&#8217;below&#8217; link=&#8217;manually,http:\/\/teammovemortgage.com\/apply-online\/&#8217; link_target=&#8217;_blank&#8217; icon_select=&#8217;no&#8217; icon=&#8217;ue800&#8242; font=&#8217;entypo-fontello&#8217; custom_font=&#8217;#ffffff&#8217; color=&#8217;theme-color&#8217; custom_bg=&#8217;#444444&#8242; color_hover=&#8217;theme-color-subtle&#8217; custom_bg_hover=&#8217;#444444&#8242;][\/av_button_big]<\/p>\n<h2>Team Move Lending Areas<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>Team Move lends in\u00a0areas such as Wilmington, Leland, Hampstead, Jacksonville, Camp Lejeune, Whiteville, Shallotte, Southport, Elizabethtown, Lumberton, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Fayetteville, Rockingham, Raleigh, Garner, Smithfield, Clayton, Goldsboro, Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Chapel Hill, Burgaw, Castle Hayne, Holden Beach, Supply, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, Hubert, Tabor City, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Laurinburg, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach, Surf City, Sneads Ferry, Richlands, Wrightsville Beach, New Bern, Oak Island, Saint James, Wallace, Sanford, Pittsboro, Apex, Cary, Raleigh, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina, Siler City, Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Pinehurst, Whispering Pines,\u00a0Spring Lake, Fayetteville, Lillington, Hope Mills, Dunn, Angier, Smithfield, as well as the rest of NC.\u00a0 North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Conway, Loris, Little River, Longs, as well as the rest of South Carolina and Virginia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rent Tips to Buy a First Home In this series, we are providing\u00a0tips to avoid the Most Common Roadblocks to Home Ownership.\u00a0 So far we have discussed how to solve limited or bad credit, no down payment, and not having a budget.\u00a0\u00a0Therefore, lets discuss overcoming Roadblock #4.\u00a0\u00a0Not being able to document rent or housing history [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,24,33,17,40,41,48],"tags":[385,93,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,9,10,455,11,12,13,98,16,18,456,457,244,20,42,43,44,45,46,47,49,21],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1st-time-buyers","category-fha","category-frequently-asked-questions","category-products","category-tips","category-usda","category-va-loans","tag-cash","tag-debt-ratio","tag-fha","tag-fha-guidelines","tag-fha-home-loans","tag-fha-loan-calculator","tag-fha-loan-requirements","tag-fha-loans","tag-fha-purchase","tag-first-time-buyers","tag-homebuyers","tag-landlord","tag-low-down-payment","tag-lumberton-board-of-realtors","tag-mortgage-faqs","tag-nc-purchase-contract","tag-north-carolina","tag-realtors","tag-rent","tag-rent-tips","tag-rent-free","tag-team-move","tag-usda","tag-usda-home-loan-updates","tag-usda-home-loans","tag-usda-rural-development","tag-usda-rural-development-guidelines","tag-va-home-loans","tag-va-requirements","tag-wrar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rent Tips Help Renters Turn Into a First Time Homebuyer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rent tips for first time buyers. 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