Articles Tagged With: Credit History

March 15, 2021

Getting Credit Approved For A Home Loan

A lot of people don’t know how to approach a home loan–what does the average borrower need to know about your lender’s credit approval for a home loan? The things you should know that will help you understand the home loan process better have a lot to do with what the lender is required to do in order to declare you a good credit risk. For some future home owners, getting to “yes” for a home loan seems like a mystery; take some of the guesswork out of the home loan process by learning a few things about what the lender is required to do with your financial information. The first thing to know about getting a home loan approved? Perfect credit is NOT to be considered for an FHA | more...

March 11, 2021

FHA One Time Close Construction Loans Versus FHA Rehabilitation Mortgages

By Joe Wallace

There are FHA home loans you can apply for that allow you to build or renovate existing construction. One type of home loan–one that lets you build instead of buying existing construction–is the FHA One-Time Close (OTC) construction loan. An alternative, known as the FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation mortgage and it is used to repair or renovate a home. One-Time Close construction loans and FHA 203(k) Rehab loans are similar–these two loans need approved builders to do the work, and they both require a minimum down payment unless you choose a VA or USDA OTC loan instead. One-Time Close Down Payment Rules FHA One-Time Close loans have a 3.5% down requirement for those with FICO scores within the qualifying range. Borrowers with lower credit scores may be required to put 10% | more...

March 8, 2021

Home Loan Approval And Your Credit Scores

By Joe Wallace

It doesn’t matter if you want to buy a single-family home in a rural area or a condo unit in a busy metropolis; if you don’t understand your credit report or know your credit score, you aren’t ready to financially commit to a home loan. In order to buy a home, consumers have to become credit-literate. That means knowing how credit reports work, how to interpret credit scores, and how your credit report affects your ability to be approved for a loan. There are three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion, Experian. That is one reason why we encourage borrowers to check their credit reports as early as possible prior to applying for an FHA mortgage or any other major line of credit. You may have to dispute an error | more...

February 19, 2021

FHA Loans: The Credit Check

By Joe Wallace

FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 give instructions to the lender on how to establish an FHA borrower’s creditworthiness. FHA loan rules tend to be more flexible on credit issues than their conventional equivalents, but borrowers are still required to financially qualify. Are you looking for a condo loan, a mobile home loan? There’s an FHA loan for that. Do you want to build a house on your own land with an FHA construction loan? Some don’t realize the credit requirements in the FHA Lender’s Handbook are identical. For construction loans, borrowers should expect slightly higher credit requirements from the lender. But on paper, FHA loan rules make no distinction between different loan types and the minimum FICO score needed to qualify for maximum financing. One area that is also | more...

November 23, 2020

Bad Credit Home Loans

By Joe Wallace

You’ll find a lot of information on the internet about bad credit home loans. Lists of bad credit-friendly lenders abound, but what do you need to know about these home loans and their alternatives? The first thing to remember is that bad credit is a potential barrier to new credit for a reason–your lender is required to justify the loan and make sure you are a good credit risk. And if your credit scores and credit history show that you haven’t been as reliable about making on-time payments and meeting your credit obligations? Your lender has two options. One is to deny you the loan. This is what usually happens in cases where the lender cannot justify approving your loan due to credit issues. Each lender has their own standards | more...

November 18, 2020

Getting A Mortgage With A Low Credit Score

By Bruce Reichstein

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 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...

October 1, 2020

Buying A Home With An FHA Loan: What’s Allowed, What’s Not

By Bruce Reichstein

FHA mortgages are great for borrowers who want a lower down payment, no early repayment penalties, and more flexible home loan approval guidelines than some conventional counterparts. But the tradeoff comes where certain kinds of property and other loan details are concerned. If you want a home as opposed to an investment, an FHA mortgage is right for you. That includes those who want to build a home from the ground up instead of buying someone else’s property. Whether you want a traditional suburban home, a mobile home, a condominium, or even a duplex or multi-family unit, there’s an FHA mortgage for those purposes. But what about those who want to buy a house they can rent out to others, or those who want a mixed-use property that can handle | more...