Articles Tagged With: Credit Check

November 18, 2020

Getting A Mortgage With A Low Credit Score

Lots of potential home owners want to know if it is possible to get a mortgage with a low credit score. The answer to this kind of question may surprise you, but much depends on both FHA loan rules AND participating lender standards. What do you need to know to get started looking for a home loan with a low credit score? Start Working On Your Credit Today What some borrowers don’t understand is that there are things you can do in the planning stages of your home loan journey to improve credit scores and they are steps you do not have to pay someone else to do for you. One of the first of these is to pull your credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies Equifax, | more...

November 10, 2020

Information You Need To Pre-Qualify Or Get Pre-Approved For A Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

When you go to explore your home loan options, there are two steps you’ll take to get things started and moving forward. One is getting pre-qualified for the loan using some basic (but important) information about your income, credit history, and other variables. The other step is to get pre-approved, which is a more involved process that requires more information building on what you previously submitted in the pre-qualification process. What kind of information does a potential borrower need for these applications? It helps to think like a lender when dealing with questions like these; your loan officer needs information to establish your employment and income history, your patterns of credit use, the size of the loan you need, etc. For pre-qualifying, which is something you can do in your | more...

November 3, 2020

When You Apply For Your Mortgage Loan

By Joe Wallace

When you apply for a home loan, whether it’s an FHA mortgage, conventional loan, or any other type of “forward mortgage” used to purchase, your lender is required to check your employment, income, and credit information to make sure you are a good credit risk. Some borrowers assume the lender is only interested in FICO scores–the numbers assigned to you based on your credit patterns, repayment history, and other variables. But that is NOT true–the score is important, yes. But it’s not the only factor that goes into loan approval decisions. And it’s key to understand the factors that go into determining your credit score as those factors are of interest to your lender. TransUnion, one of the “big three” credit reporting agencies, advises consumers that credit scores are determined | more...

October 16, 2020

Planning A Home Loan? Beware Holiday Credit Card Use

By Joe Wallace

A borrower’s debt-to-income ratio is an important part of the financial qualifications your lender will look at when trying to decide to approve or deny your mortgage loan application. Some future borrowers don’t help themselves out in this regard during holiday time and as we approach November and December, those in the planning stages of their mortgage loan journey should beware of opening new credit or increasing credit card use on existing accounts. Why? Credit Card Use Spikes At Holiday Time Traditionally, American consumers tend to increase credit use during the holiday season and it never pays to ignore this factor–take your potential holiday spending into account when planning for a new mortgage loan. In some cases the amount of the credit card debt isn’t the problematic factor–timely payments is | more...

October 7, 2020

Getting Ready For Your Home Loan

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you considering your home loan options? FHA mortgage loans have more flexible credit requirements more consumer-friendly loan options, but even with more lenient credit guidelines (compared to some conventional mortgages) there are a number of areas to consider in the preparation stages of your loan. Some are already ahead of the curve when it comes to getting financially ready for a major loan application, others are really starting from ground zero. Do you know how ready you are to fill out that mortgage loan application? Having Enough Preparation Time Is Important It does cost money to buy a home–there are plenty of up-front costs including appraisals and the home inspection, etc. Financial experts advise taking at least a full year to save, budget, and even to research the new | more...

September 24, 2020

Is Your Credit Report Hurting Your Chances At Loan Approval?

By Joe Wallace

American consumers are entitled by law to a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. This is a valuable resource all potential home loan applicants should take advantage of as early as possible in the home loan planning stages. However, this is only a first step into a larger world. Credit monitoring is, in the age of hackers and rampant identity theft, a necessity for borrowers who want to make certain their credit will be enough to justify home loan approval. And credit monitoring is not the sort of thing you want to start late in the game–you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to review your credit and work on it during the planning stages. How long should that planning be? Your home loan | more...

September 1, 2020

One-Time Close Construction Loan Mortgage Payments: What You Need To Know

By Joe Wallace

When do mortgage payments begin on a construction loan? If you are building on your own lot with a VA One-Time Close loan or an FHA OTC construction loan, you’ll want to know what you are liable for and when–and you’ll also want to know how delaying your mortgage payments until the home is complete will affect your monthly payments down the road. VA and FHA mortgage loan options include the ability to build a home on your own land using a VA One-Time Close construction loan or the FHA equivalent. One-Time Close loans allow you to build a house on your own land or purchase land in conjunction with building a home. There is a single application and approval process–these loans are potentially more streamlined and easier to manage | more...

August 20, 2020

Househunters, Do You Need Credit Advice?

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you a house hunter worried about your credit ahead of your loan application? It doesn’t matter if you want to buy a mobile home, a condo, or even build a house on your own lot with a construction loan, you’ll need to examine your credit closely long before you apply for your mortgage. Many borrowers are afraid to look at their credit report, or they don’t know how to access one. Fortunately, you can get help accessing and reviewing your credit with professional credit monitoring, and there are some things you can do on your own to improve your credit ahead of your loan application. Start As Early As You Can Working on your credit, no matter what state it may be in, takes time. If you find issues | more...

the importance of credit for home loan approval

August 12, 2020

The Importance Of Your Credit For Home Loan Approval

By Bruce Reichstein

Why is credit monitoring, credit repair, and credit utilization so important for the purposes of getting a home loan approved? This is a serious question all borrowers should ask ahead of their loan application. It’s just as important to know the hows and whys of addressing your credit scores and history–and the question should be addressed long before applying for a major line of credit like a construction loan to build on your own land, or the purchase of a condo or suburban home. A participating FHA lender is required to make each loan applicant can realistically afford the home loan. For loan approval, your credit history must have patterns that indicate that you will pay on time and generally behave like a good credit risk. Approving a home loan | more...

July 3, 2020

FHA Home Loan Credit Score Requirements: FICO Scores And More

By Joe Wallace

Many borrowers worry about their credit scores ahead of an application for an FHA home loan, and it’s hard for some to gauge whether they have sufficient credit to get a loan approved. FHA loans have more forgiving credit requirements and borrowers should not assume they do not qualify for a home loan without discussing their circumstances with a participating lender. When is a low credit score too low? FHA home loan rules specify that the lender must ensure a 500 FICO score (the very minimum) in order to qualify for an FHA mortgage, but your credit score numbers don’t tell the whole story. Lender Requirements For Home Loan Approval Vary You may read that FHA loan rule minimums for FICO scores do not always reflect the participating lender’s credit | more...