Three Ways That Your Credit Score Affects Your Mortgage (and Your Chance of Obtaining One!)

If you’re thinking of buying a home, you’ve probably been thinking a lot about your credit score as well. Credit scores control so much of what we do in the world of finances, but what does your credit score really have to do with your mortgage? Here are three ways that your credit score could impact your mortgage application.

Your Credit Score Affects Your Ability To Get A Mortgage

The first thing your credit score tells a lender is whether they should lend to you at all. In some cases, if you have a very low credit score, you may not be able to obtain a mortgage at all.
Different lenders will have different criteria for determining safe and unsafe lending situations. Typically, if you have a score below the 600 mark, you’ll have trouble obtaining a mortgage.
If you’re worried about a low credit score, don’t despair – you can still get a mortgage, you just might have to work a little harder to get one. Some lenders will still lend to people with lower credit scores (just make sure you’re approaching legitimate lenders and not mortgage scam artists). Or, if time is on your side, you can work toward building up your credit score so that when it comes time to take out a mortgage, your score will be more appealing to lenders.

Your Credit Score Affects What Types Of Mortgages You Can Obtain

The second thing a lender learns from your credit score is which types of mortgages you qualify for. If a lender sees you as a higher risk, they won’t necessarily be willing to offer you just any old mortgage.
In most cases, if you have a credit score of less than 620, you won’t qualify for a conventional mortgage. In addition, if you have a lower credit score, you may have to make a larger down payment in order to qualify for the type of mortgage you want.

Your Credit Score Affects Your Interest Rate

The final thing that a lender learns from your credit score is what type of interest rate they’re willing to offer you. As a general rule, the higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate.
However, just because you have a high credit score, that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get a great mortgage rate. There’s more that goes into the price of a mortgage than just the interest rate, so watch out for additional factors like extra fees, mortgage insurance, lock-in periods, and so on.
Your credit score tells a lender a lot about what type of borrower you are. Ultimately, a higher credit score means that you’ll be able to borrow money at a lower interest rate. But if your score is low, don’t worry – there’s a lot you can do to bring up that score before you apply for a mortgage, so don’t throw in the towel just yet!
Every financial situation is different, so if you want to find out more about how your credit score will affect your mortgage in your specific circumstance, talk to your mortgage professional.

Mortgage Budgeting 101: How to Determine What You Can and Can’t Afford

When taking on a new mortgage, it is important to know that you can afford to carry the debt load involved, as many people find themselves in financial trouble by spending more on real estate than they can comfortably maintain. Your mortgage budget can be calculated to determine just how much you should spend on your next mortgage.

Mortgage Rates And Today’s Market Conditions

Mortgage rates change every day, and in times of high volatility can even fluctuate more than once in a twenty-four hour period. The market reflects a number of economic variables, including relevant world news and events. Wall Street also directly affects the real estate market. By researching and watching mortgage rates closely you will be able to secure your mortgage at the best rate possible.
With so many different loan types, terms and interest can affect your monthly mortgage payment significantly. Shop around, and see which loan types will work for you. The rates available will be effected by the type of real estate you are purchasing, and your credit score.

Your Total Income

Your income helps give lenders an indicator of your ability to pay a mortgage. Your total income may include alimony, investment revenue, or other sources in addition to regular wages. Knowing this total and how it might change in the near future can help one get a sense of what is manageable.

Mortgage Expectations And Monthly Expense

Monthly expenses play a big role in your mortgage budget. Credit card debt, vehicles and other monthly commitments need to be factored in full to clearly understand your financial situation.
If you are carrying a large debt load, you may want to pay your debts down before adding more debt via a mortgage. Clearing up outstanding debts will help boost your credit score and in turn your appeal to lenders.

Expenditures that may be considered frivolous or redundant could be eating away at your mortgage budget. Try to cut out unnecessary spending to create some breathing room in your monthly budget. It is important to be more realistic when budgeting than one would be when goal setting, but it is always a good idea to ‘trim away the fat’.

The Amount You Put Down On The Debt

Another factor of affordability and eligibility will be your down payment. How much money you put as a down payment can and will affect the types of mortgage loans and interest rates accessible to you. The value of the down payment will vary depending on the type of property or investment that is being secured; higher value properties will require a larger down payment.
Real estate is a great way to invest in your future. Although some can turn a profit ‘flipping’ houses, most mortgages are long-term investments. The investment grows more beneficial over time as the principal is paid down.

By carefully considering your personal finances, you will be able to determine what you can and cannot afford. Researching the options available will build your confidence when choosing a loan. Contact your trusted mortgage professional for answers to any additional affordability questions.

Giving and Getting: Why the Terms of a Home’s Sale Are Far More Important Than the Price Paid

One of the most significant factors home buyers and sellers focus on when buying real estate is the negotiated sales price in the purchase contract. While the sales price is undeniably important, the reality is that other terms in the sales contract may have more far-reaching and significant effects on the transaction.
In fact, with a closer look at some of the most important terms, you will see why you and your agent should actively negotiate for improved terms rather than a lower sales price.
Closing Costs
Some buyers and sellers will haggle over a few thousand dollars in the sales price without paying
attention to the closing costs, but the fact is that the closing costs for a typical transaction may cost the buyer between two to five percent of the sales price on average.
A sales contract may be negotiated so that the seller assumes some or most of the closing costs, and this can result in considerable savings the buyer. Likewise, when a contract is negotiated in the interest of the seller, the seller may save thousands of dollars at closing if the contract states that the buyer is responsible for these costs.
The Appraised Value
In an ideal world, a home would appraise for the contracted sales price, but this is not always the case. A sales contract may be written with terms that allow for the sales price to be renegotiated after the appraised value is confirmed, and this may benefit both parties. Some sales contracts, however, state that the negotiated sales price is final regardless of the appraised value.
The Property Inspection
Many home buyers opt to obtain a property inspection to determine if there are hidden issues with the property structure, foundation, roof, air quality and other components. Some inspections reveal that a home is in fairly good condition, but others may reveal that a property needs thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs.
Some sales contracts may be written so that the buyer may back out of a contract within a certain period of time after receiving the property inspection report or so that the terms of the sales contract may be renegotiated once the property inspection report has been completed.
Special Contingencies
A real estate transaction may extend for several weeks or even months while the buyer contracts with a lender, an appraiser, a property inspector and other third parties. During this period of time, many events can occur that may adjust the interest level or even the ability of the buyer and seller to fulfill the contract.
Some sales contracts are written so that the buyer may opt out of the contract within a certain period of time with minimal expense and regardless of other factors related to the appraisal and inspection.
Generally, there are standard terms found in many real estate sales contracts, but these terms can be adjusted by either party to benefit buyers or sellers. Those who are preparing to buy or sell property should actively communicate their needs and desires with their real estate agent so that the contract may be negotiated with terms most favorable to their needs.

Understanding the ‘Qualified Mortgage’ or QM and Why It’s Important to New Home Buyers

Are you shopping for a home or a new mortgage? If you are interested in finding the best possible

financial product, it is important to consider the benefits of selecting a Qualified Mortgage. With so many different types of loan products to choose from and financial terms to learn, schooling yourself on the mortgage market before you buy your first home or apply for your first refinance mortgage may seem like a daunting task.
Luckily, there are resources that are designed to help you learn the basics of products and terms so that all consumers have the power to inform themselves before securing a loan.
What is a Qualified Mortgage?
There are many different categories of home loans that individual loan products can fall into and one of these categories is simply referred to as a Qualified Mortgage. Qualified Mortgages, also referred to as the QM in the industry, is a product that has been approved as a qualified product because it has stable features that benefit you as a borrower.
All lenders who are interested in offering a Qualified Mortgage must make a good-faith effort to assess your income and your debt-to-income ratio to ensure that you are able to repay the loan before you take the loan out. All lenders must meet a long list of certain requirements that are free of harmful features that could affect a borrower’s ability to pay.
Common Requirements of Qualified Mortgages
The main purpose of a qualified mortgage is to protect borrowers from forms of predatory lending. The standards that the loan must meet are set by the Federal government. In addition to assessing the borrower’s ability to pay before approving an application, lenders must meet loan product requirements that are very specific in nature. Some of the harmful features that a QM product is not permitted to have include:
- Negative Amortization: This feature affects consumers by allowing principal to increase over time.
- Interest-only Periods: Where payments are only applied to interest on the money borrowed.
- Balloon payment requirement: A requirement where borrowers must pay a large payment at the end of the loan term.
- Long Terms: Loans cannot have terms longer than 30 years.
- A Large Debt-to-Income Ratio: There is a limit in how much income that can go to monthly debt payments. This limit is 43% for a QM.

How Can a QM Benefit a New Home Buyer?
As you can see, there are safeguards built into a Qualified Mortgage that are designed to protect you from entering into a long-term binding loan contract that puts you in an unfair position. There are also legal protections that are designed to protect lenders who are committed to designing qualified mortgage products. You can sign a loan that you can afford to repay, have payments applied to your principal as well as interest, and become a homeowner without unnecessary stress. If you are interested in learning more, contact your mortgage professional to review interest rates and loan terms.

Starting to Shop for a Mortgage? How to Assess Your ‘Debt-to-Income Ratio’ and Why This Number Matters

Those who are looking to buy a home may want to start by shopping for a loan first. Having financing ahead of time may make it easier to get sellers to take a buyer seriously and help move along the closing process. For those who are looking to get a mortgage, the most important factor for having a mortgage application approved is the debt-to-income ratio of the borrower.

What Is a Debt-to-Income Ratio?

A debt-to-income ratio is simply the percentage of debt compared to the amount of income that a person brings in. If a person brought home $1,000 a month and had $500 worth of debt, that person would have a DTI of 50 percent. To improve the odds of getting a home loan, experts recommend that potential borrowers keep their DTI under 43 percent.

What Debt Will Lenders Look At?

The good news for borrowers is that lenders will disregard some debt when calculating a borrower’s DTI. For example, a health insurance premium would not be considered as part of your DTI while, and income is calculated on a pre-tax basis. This means that a borrower doesn’t have to factor in taxes when calculating their qualifying income.
What lenders will look at are any installment loan obligations such as auto loans or student loans as well as any revolving debt payments such as credit cards or a home equity line of credit. In some cases, a lender will disregard an installment loan debt if the loan is projected to be paid off in the next 10-12 months.

What Is Considered as Income?

Almost any source of income that can be verified will be counted as income on a mortgage application. Those who receive alimony, investment income or money from a pension or social security will have that money included in their monthly income when they apply for a loan. Wage income is also considered as part of a borrower’s monthly qualifying income. Self-employed individuals can use their net profit as income when applying for a mortgage. However, many lenders will average income in the current year with income from previous years.

How Much Debt Is Too Much Debt?

Many lenders will only offer loans to those who have a debt-to-income ratio of 43 percent. However, government backed loans may allow borrowers who have a DTI of 50-55 to qualify for a loan depending on their income and other factors. Talking to a lender prior to starting the mortgage application process may be able to help a borrower determine if his or her chosen lender offers such leeway.
A borrower’s DTI ratio may be the biggest factor when a lender decides whether to approve a mortgage application. Those who wish to increase their odds of loan approval may decide to lower their DTI by increasing their income or lowering their debt. This may make it easier for the lender and the underwriter to justify making a loan to the borrower.

The FHA Hawk Program for New Homebuyers is Coming: Here’s How It Affects Your Mortgage Insurance Premiums

The FHA offers many new programs and incentives for new homebuyers to take advantage of so that
they can be part of the effort to ease the credit crisis. If you are in the process of shopping for a mortgage prior to shopping for your new home, it can benefit you to learn about programs that you may qualify for that are being created by the Federal Housing Administration and piloted.
One such plan, which is has been approved as a four-year pilot program, is referred to as the FHA HAWK Program. Read on to learn how this program works and how it can affect mortgage insurance premiums.

What Is The HAWK Pilot Program?
The FHA HAWK program, which stands for Homeowners Armed With Knowledge, is designed to help first-time homebuyers make educated decisions when borrowing and buying a home. Individuals who are eligible to participate must qualify and meet the definition of first-time home buyer.
They will also be required to complete a housing counseling and education program that is available through HUD where they will learn financial information that can help them make smart home buying decisions.

Some of the topics covered in the educational program include: how to better manage finances, mortgage options, how to evaluate affordability, understanding your rights and the responsibilities that come with homeownership. Upon completion of the program, the applicant can submit their application for an FHA-insured mortgage and receive specific FHA mortgage insurance pricing incentives that will lower premiums.

What Type of Mortgage Insurance Incentive Will You Receive?
Once you participate in the program, the Federal Housing Administration will give all of the borrowers who qualify for the incentive a mortgage insurance premiums incentive by applying a 50 basis point reduction in the upfront premiums and a 10 point reduction in the annual premium starting at the time the loan originated.

As long as the borrower stays in good standing with their lender, they will receive these incentives and fee reductions for the life of the loan. This brings the upfront premiums down from 1.75 percent to a more manageable 1.25%. Add in the fact that you are saving on annual premiums that range between.45 and 1.55 percent, and you can see how beneficial this program can be over the period of 30 years. Finance experts predict that the average buyer will see a savings of $325 per year, which is a savings of $9800 over a 30 year loan term.

The FHA is piloting this new HAWK program in an effort to reduce delinquency of borrowers who borrow from FHA-insured lenders and to also reduce the costs of loan processing. By offering first-time homebuyers a discount to learn about the market, the FHA is trying to battle the ongoing credit crisis and in the same time service more educated buyers. If you would like to learn more about how you can reduce the mortgage insurance premiums that you pay initially and throughout the life of your loan, contact your trusted mortgage agent and discuss your options when it comes to the HAWK program.

What To Do When Your Real Estate Loan Is Declined

There are many reasons why a mortgage loan could be declined. It doesn’t have to be the end of your real estate dreams. Here are a few things to consider if you’ve been turned down for a mortgage.


Loan-To-Value Ratio
The loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is the percentage of the appraised value of the property that you are trying to finance. For example, if you are trying to finance a home that costs $100,000, and want to borrow $75,000, your LTV is seventy-five percent.
Lenders don’t like a high LTV. The higher the ratio, the harder it is to qualify for a mortgage. To reduce the percentage, you can save up a bigger down payment. Some lenders may approve the loan if you buy mortgage insurance, which protects the lender in the case of default, but makes your mortgage payment higher.

Credit To Debt Ratio
Lenders will be less likely to approve your mortgage loan if you have a high credit-to-debt ratio. The ratio is figured by dividing the amount of credit available to you, on a credit card or auto loan, and dividing it by how much you are currently using.
High debt loads will scare away most lenders. Try to keep your debt to under fifty percent of what is available to you. Lenders will appreciate it, and you will be more likely to be approved for a mortgage.

No Credit Or Bad Credit
Few things can derail your mortgage loan approval like credit issues. Having no credit record can be as bad for your approval chances as bad credit. With no record of timely loan payments from anywhere, a lender is unable to determine your likelihood to repay the mortgage. Some lenders will consider other records of payment, like utility bills and rent reports from your landlord.
If you have frequent late charges or collections, you’ll need to work on getting those paid on time, every time. There aren’t many lenders who will approve someone with bad credit, especially in today’s market.

Talk to your loan officer to determine which problem applies to you, and learn the steps to fix it. Then, you can finance the home or condo of your dreams.
If you’re ready to buy a home or condo, I can help. Together, we’ll determine how much you can afford, and I’ll negotiate to get the best price and terms for you. Get in touch with me so I can help you.