Sure Horizon

Archive for May, 2011

The biggest question that potential homeowners need to ask themselves isn’t what do they want from a house, but can they afford a mortgage. They need to sit down and look at their finances the way a loan officer would. That is the only way to know if they have what it takes to get approved for a mortgage — and how large of a mortgage they can afford.

Of course, that means they need to know what a mortgage officer will look at. In general, they are going to look at the current financial balance sheet of an individual or couple. They want to make sure that the Debt To Income Ratio of the borrower(s) can include a mortgage without causing financial strain. The better the ratio, the more likely they are to approve a loan.

While ability to pay is the most important factor, mortgage officers are also going to look at other factors before making a final decision. They will look at the borrower’s credit history to make sure that they don’t have a habit of missing payments or defaulting on loans. It is possible to have a decent debt to income ration but have a bad credit score due to past problems. Lenders also look at the condition of the property being purchased. If there are problems with the title clearance, with taxes, or with the home inspection , they may not be willing to accept the house as collateral for the mortgage. It is therefore important for potential homeowners to look at this entire picture before they apply for a mortgage, as the lender will be taking all these individual factors into account as well.

The study of psychology used to be about debating theories and coming up with new schools of thought. Some psychologists would work with patients, but usually as a way to provide field research for their specific theory. Over time the fields of applied psychology began to grow, overtaking those interested in pure theory and research. Today, there are lots of ways to put a psychology degree to work, especially for those who have specialized in industrial organizational psychology, known as IO psychology for short.

While there is a good amount of research being conducted in the IO field, most industrial organizational psychology graduate programs focus on practical applications. They prepare students to work in large companies and organizations to directly improve both employee performance and management’s understanding of their customers. Generally these graduates end up working closely with a company’s human resources director or with the marketing and product development team, depending on their area of specialty.

Recognizing the importance of human capital or employees is essential for the success of any large organization in the 21st century. IO psychologists can help a company with issues of employee morale and team work, develop strong leaders, and improve both job satisfaction and the overall organizational culture. A few IO psychologists specialize in understanding market and consumer behaviors and how customers interact with corporations. These individuals are invaluable in advising marketing campaigns and predicting consumer reaction to specific products.