Best Online Tools for Future Home Buyers

If you are looking into buying a home, there are many online tools that can help assist you in your process that you will need to get prepared for buying your future home. These tools include your credit, homes for sale, foreclosures, and loan information and payments.

AnnualCreditReport.com

First, you will need to know your credit score. There are three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies that you can receive your credit report for free once a year from AnnualCreditReport.com. The companies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It is simple to receive your reports online by selecting your state and following the instructions by filling out your name, address, social security number, date of birth on the online form. Once you submit your form, you can request to have it delivered right to your inbox. This will help you find out what credit needs to be cleaned up prior to applying for a home loan to buy your home.

Homes.com

Another online tool for future home buyers is an online website where you can find homes for sale. Home.com is a great place to search because of their database of over three million properties that they have for sale or rent in many different cities throughout the United States. Whether you are searching in the city you currently live in or out of state, you can find many homes and the different values of the homes in the area.

Foreclosure.com

If you are interested in purchasing a home that is in foreclosure, Forclosure.com is another great online tool for future home buyers where you can browse the different homes that considered distressed properties in many different areas. They also offer email alerts when a home a property is going into distress. You can receive a 7-Day trial for only $1. If you decide to keep subscribing, you will be charged $9.95 each week or you can cancel within the 7-Day trial period to cancel. They will also walk first time buyers step-by-step through the process of how to buy a foreclosure.

BankRate.com

Another online tool for purchasing a home is an online loan calculator. Bankrate.com is a great place to calculate what your loan payments will be before purchasing a home or to find out what you can afford monthly and what amount you need to put down on the home. Bankrate.com is easy to add your loan amount, the term, interest rate, and loan start date to figure out what your monthly payments will be. Bankrate.com has a lot of current home information to keep you up-to-date on the current news and to compare mortgage rates.