Can you imagine getting to the closing table and your lender refuses to make the loan?? It can, and does, happen. How?? Well, most people do not know, but many lenders pull a last minute credit report before making the final loan. And, guess what, if you went out and bought some nice new furniture for that new home, or the wife a new car, or dad that big screen TV, you may have just oveshot your debt-to-income ratio. And the lender will refuse the loan. I had this happen one time so I know what I'm talking about. A buyer client went to Rooms-to-Go and got new bedroom and livingroom furniture to be delivered on closing day. I warned them not to incur any debt before closing, but they thought because Rooms-to-Go was not requiring any payments for 1 year it would not show up on their credit for a year. Nope, that's not the way it works, the extra credit shows up immediately. Not a happy closing for sure, so keep this in mind when you buy your new home.