Attention buyers and refinancers: Don’t acquire new debt!

If you apply for a loan to buy or refinance a property, your lender will tell you not to acquire new debt before closing. What does this mean? It means, don’t buy a car with a car loan. Don’t get a new credit card. Don’t increase your credit line on existing credit cards. Don’t buy furniture for your new home on store credit.

This recent article in the Washington Post has a good discussion about why this is important and what the ramifications are if you ignore the warning from the lender.