Buying a Home in 2011 ; What you need to know

Buyers: Qualify for a mortgage to buy a home.  Many would-be buyers have mentally disqualified themselves, despite the great economic climate for buying a home, because they have heard it is so difficult to get a mortgage. 
The fact is, with a 620 credit score and a 3.5 percent down payment (plus closing costs, in some cases), an FHA loan can finance the purchase of your home.  Start with the basics - pull your credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and check them for errors, following the instructions to dispute any inaccurate information that might drag your score down.  Then, get referrals to a local mortgage broker who can pull your credit score - the same ones the banks will look at - and let you know where you stand, as well as giving you some tasks to boost your score to where you need it to be, if it's too low.  Don't talk yourself out of even applying for a home loan; instead, get a professional's opinion about your purchasing power and their help in getting yourself ready to buy.

The other big to-do list item is saving up  "cash to close" - the money you need for your down payment and closing costs.  Again, work with a real estate broker or agent and the mortgage broker or professional - local to your area - to help you figure out about what your target savings amount needs to be. Then, get started going through your last month's bank account statements to see where you can eliminate expenses and direct those funds into savings, automatically and every paycheck, ideally.