Your Realtor is absolutely right. Qualifying for a mortgage has become more challenging in a number of ways:

•1)      Larger Down Payments Required - 100%,"No money down" financing deals are gone. You can still put 3% down using an FHA loan, but for the most part, conventional financing is a minimum 5% down.

•2)      Higher Credit Scores Required - All of the automated underwriting systems have been adjusted to be more conservative in their approvals. There are also severe pricing penalties for credit scores below 680.

•3)      No More Free Stated Programs - In fact, Stated Income and Stated Asset programs have become very scarce and expensive.

My advice is to get pre-approved as soon as you can. Know your credit score and how much cash you will need at closing. This way you will know what price range you should be looking in, and how to best formulate your offer.

 Stephen Katz

Katz Mortgage Team