Tag Archive for: credit scores

5 Things You Can Do to Ensure a Smooth Closing

From the outside looking in, getting a mortgage loan from application to final closing looks fairly straightforward. You apply for a loan, submit it, the lender looks at it, approves it then orders final closing papers. Once you submit your application, it gets pretty quiet on your end. But on the other end, there’s a […]

If Your Spouse Has Bad Credit: What That Means For You

Mortgage lenders evaluate good credit and bad credit a bit differently than they did several years ago. Prior to the introduction of credit scoring, a lender’s underwriter would review each credit entry line by line. The underwriter would look at credit limits and account balances, if there were any payments made 30, 60 or 90 […]

The Online Mortgage Business Just Got Personal

If you’re like many, you’re probably working from home these days. All so-called “non-essential” employees have been asked to stay home and work remotely. For some, this takes some getting used to. There are no other employees around, no office chatter and the communication between coworkers is done either by phone or via online meetings. […]

Why Rent Payment History is So Important

If you’re thinking about buying your first home or maybe you have owned a home before but it’s been a while since you did, you’re going to wonder about how to qualify in today’s environment. There are different qualifying guidelines based upon things such as your income and employment, current monthly debt, rent payment history, […]

FHA Cash Out Refinance Loans in 2020

The Federal Housing Administration’s home loan program is one of the three government-backed loans and is also the most popular. The other two government-backed loans are the VA and USDA programs. The FHA loan is also the favorite for first-time homebuyers. There are several reasons for this popularity but primarily the minimum down payment is […]

Minimum Credit Standards for FHA Loans

The Federal Housing Administration’s housing finance programs, most commonly referred to as FHA home loans, provides lenders guidance regarding how to evaluate and approve an FHA loan application. FHA loans are one of three government-backed programs that carry some degree of lender compensation should a guaranteed loan ever go into default. With FHA programs, the […]

Four Characteristics of a Jumbo Borrower

Mortgages are typically divided into two categories- conforming and jumbo. A conforming loan is one where the maximum loan amount is $484,350 for most parts of the country. In higher cost areas where the median home value is higher than the norm, the conforming limit rises as high as $726,525. Conforming loans are by far […]

The Two Best Things You Can Do to Cause Credit Score to Soar!

When applying for a mortgage whether it’s for a purchase or a refinance, one of the most important data points is your credit score. Most every available loan program in today’s marketplace does require a minimum credit score and while that minimum score can vary from program to program as well as being raised higher […]