Recommendations on where to get pre-approved in Baton Rouge

[Aric Van Iterson]

I'm looking to buy a property within the next 5 months and want to get pre-approved for a loan before talking to any real estate agents.  Are there any recommendations in the Baton Rouge area for doing this?

My plan is to buy a SFH and house hack it with a few roommates for a few years. So, I'm pretty confident that I'll be using an FHA loan to get started. I have a great credit score and employment history, so there shouldn't be any issues with actually getting approved. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[Robert Leonard]

If I were you @Aric Van Iterson, I would look at www.hudhomestore.com and www.homepath.com and look for REOs that you have an advantage to buy before other investors, because you are going to live in it. The owner occupant only buying period gives you that advantage. Wells Fargo has a similar program for only O/O before others can buy their REOs. Yes, some will need more work than you can move right into or qualify for FHA financing, but there are a lot of them that only need paint and flooring and will qualify for FHA financing. You can buy like an investor and do your house hack all at once!