Fire truck financing: What should be done

When you begin the unfamiliar task of financing a fire truck, your life will be much easier if you prepare correctly.

So, what steps should you take to prepare properly? We'll examine these in today's article.

First, get your financial information together
Gather your financial information from the past 3-5 years (different lenders will need from 3 -5 years of information). Make sure it's organized well and that someone can easily determine how much income you receive, how much you spent to run the department, what assets you own, and what monies you owe people.

Second, determine your comfort level
Determine some key financial choices you are willing to make - how much are you OK to pay as a down payment, what ballpark payment amount are you willing to pay, how long you are comfortable to finance the truck, will you need to make any other major purchases in the short and near term?

Finally, get pre-approved
It helps to set a reasonable budget to work from as you select your truck. The process to design and select a truck can take a very long time - much longer than any bank is probably able to commit in a pre-approval. In that case, simply get the pre-approval to know what you can afford now. If your financial situation stays the same, you should be fine. If your situation changes (especially for the worse), it probably is wise to get pre-approved again.

Summary
Common sense can help you prepare for a easy truck financing process. By following these few steps in the bginning, you can save time, money, and trouble.


Stay safe!

John R. Hill
Apparatus Budgeting Consultant
ENVIZION Financial
www.envizionfire.com