fico: How to Buy a House When You Have Bad Credit
- 01/18/23 07:54 AM
How to Buy a House When You Have Bad Credit
It can be a real jungle out there if you're trying to buy a home and get a mortgage, especially when you have bad credit. But if you've got an appetite for instruction, I'm going to show you the ways you can overcome the stress, intimidation and fear of the failure and succeed with the purchase of a home --- even if your credit scores and credit history are down and dirty.
In just the time it takes to listen to your favorite tune, let's learn how to rock buying a home when … (9 comments)
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fico: Does Shopping for a Mortgage Hurt Your Credit?
- 12/22/22 08:32 AM
Does Shopping for a Mortgage Hurt Your Credit?
Everybody who makes the leap into buying a home, especially first-time homebuyers, and even those who already own a home and are looking to improve their mortgage must eventually confront the pre-approval process. That means a mortgage application and a credit inquiry, also known as a hard credit pull.
Would it surprise you to know that this is a MAJOR stopping point for some? Even before they really even started. And the reason is because many have become conditioned to think that even a single credit inquiry will send their perfect FICO scores into a … (3 comments)
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fico: How to Rock a Mortgage Pre-Approval!!!
- 06/23/22 07:37 AM
How to Rock a Mortgage Pre-Approval!!!
Buying your first home is a daunting task and can be a huge undertaking for the first-time buyer. Shoot, even for a move-up buyer, the experienced downsizer or a seasoned investor, it can sometimes be difficult to know where to begin. But getting a mortgage pre-approval often remains the best first step in the process, and it's also a likely reality that your Realtor won't seriously consider showing you property until you are either pre-approved or pre-underwritten by a mortgage lender or broker. After all, it's really tough to know your purchase power and your budget … (3 comments)
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fico: How to Rock a Mortgage Application Without Hurting Your FICO Score
- 03/24/22 07:48 AM
How to Rock a Mortgage Application Without Hurting Your FICO Score
"What's your rate?"
"How much will I qualify for?"
"Are you a banker or a broker or a lender?"
Nope, nope and nope. None of these are the #1 question we get before a prospective borrower makes an application for a pre-approval. So what is the most asked question?
"Will making a mortgage application hurt my FICO score?"
Yep, that's it. That's the one that keeps some otherwise strong and qualifiable buyers on the sidelines and paralyzed by the irrational fear that simply by having a lender make a hard credit inquiry, and access their Equifax, … (6 comments)
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fico: What Are Credit Tradelines?
- 09/27/20 09:12 AM
What Are Credit Tradelines?
I think I've made it clear before that I find no shame in talking about how hard we work for our clients. My assistant, Jamie, and I see a good number of mortgage applications come across our desks every week and in 2019 and 2020, a high percentage of them have been for jumbo home loans, which means that our borrowers must demonstrate strong credit depth by way of an adequate number of tradelines on their credit report. Gone are the days when one could just have a decent FICO score in order to cross credit concerns off of the loan approval list.
When … (12 comments)
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fico: Your Credit May Be Good, But Is It Jumbo Good?
- 02/23/20 05:57 PM
Your Credit May Be Good, But Is It Jumbo Good?
"I have an 800 FICO so I know I'll qualify..."
We, here at Guaranteed Rate, pride ourselves on being a great jumbo mortgage lender. And because of my geography and clientele in the San Francisco Bay Area, we encounter a lot of higher loan amounts. Our rates are very competitive and we have many investors who can cover the needs of just about every jumbo loan scenario that can realistically be done these days. Moreover, we retain control of the underwriting, so we can exercise "makes sense" judgment and get files approved where … (5 comments)
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fico: Jumbo Mortgage with 5% Down Payment
- 06/17/19 07:36 AM
Jumbo Mortgage with 5% Down Payment
You never hear anyone say "Give it 95%!," do you? And, curiously, when it comes to getting a jumbo mortgage, that still holds true --- the vast majority of homebuyers still think it takes a 20% down payment to enter the market. As of 2019, there are 34 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in California that have a maximum conforming loan limit of $484,350. Another handful of counties can only get to a jumbo-conforming limit of around $550,000. So what do these homebuyers do if they have a maximum of a 5% down payment yet need to exceed … (1 comments)
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fico: Can You Get a Mortgage with Assets but No Income?
- 01/06/19 09:11 PM
Can You Get a Mortgage with Assets but No Income?
"Can you get a mortgage with assets but no income?" Well, if I had a dollar for every time I got asked this question, I'd probably then have documentable income and it would send us back to the start of the conversation, right? Seriously, what we're going to cover here are the key points of getting a home loan when you have substantial liquid assets (cash equivalents, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and even retirement accounts) but don't have the traditional income sources that lenders want to see when they go to approve you … (6 comments)
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fico: Start Me Up, I Want to Buy a Home
- 11/28/18 08:29 AM
Start Me Up, I Want to Buy a Home
To borrow yet another song reference, and you know I'm fond of those, 'it's not unusual' for first-time buyers to come in our door and readily admit they have no idea where to start the home buying process. Often they are referred by real estate agents who tell them there's zero chance they'll see the inside of their cars on a property search until they have a pre-approval letter in hand. But what is a mortgage pre-approval, where does one start that process and how to get a letter?
The Big Three
Fundamentally, a mortgage … (6 comments)
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fico: For Those About to Buy a Home
- 11/06/18 07:07 AM
For Those About to Buy a Home
I started to get curious about Fannie Mae's HomeReady mortgage program when pricing out loan scenarios that could lean towards either conforming or FHA. I needed to get a sense of which would provide the better fit for the client. In so doing, this HomeReady program, about which I knew relatively little, kept splitting the difference. The age-old question loomed: Is the scenario a better fit for FHA with its lower interest rates, but higher and permanent mortgage insurance premiums, or is it a better match for conforming, with its higher rates but lower PMI … (6 comments)
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fico: Just Don't Pull My Credit
- 10/18/18 07:38 AM
Just Don't Pull My Credit
This is going to be brief. Why? Because the concept is very simple: For most, making a credit inquiry when getting a mortgage pre-approval will not hurt their FICO score. If you:
A) Pay your bills on time,
B) Maintain a fairly low balance to limit on your credit cards, and,
C) Have developed a credit history over several years, then most likely,
D) Having a lender pull your credit score in order to assist you with getting the best mortgage terms is not going to be detrimental. In fact, it may be one of the smartest financial choices you make.
There is … (4 comments)
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fico: Debt Con Goes DEFCON
- 09/30/18 07:51 PM
Debt Con Goes DEFCON
Back in the Cold War era, the Joint Chiefs of Staff implemented a new system to indicate military readiness and they called it the 'defense readiness condition,' or DEFCON. They gave it five levels, "1" being imminent nuclear war. So let's use this model --- along with some crafty adaptations --- to demonstrate how debt consolidation refinances can also reach critical levels as a consumer manages his finances along with the value of the his home. It's important to remember that managing your mortgage and other debts always requires vigilance, just like military preparedness. With a nod to … (10 comments)
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fico: The Running of the Credit
- 09/17/18 09:02 PM
The Running of the Credit
I have never been to Pamplona, Spain, and I've never run with the bulls, but I have known two individuals who did. One came back with some fascinating stories about the experience and the other one, tragically, did not. We're not going to dwell on either of them here, but instead discuss the fear that many have when they go to apply for a home loan. Long has the myth been propagated that simply by having a mortgage lender pull credit, a borrower will see his pristine, 800+ FICO scores trampled into the 500-range by the mere … (15 comments)
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fico: Three Ways to Get a Great Jumbo Loan for Under $20
- 07/28/18 02:48 PM
Three Ways to Get a Great Jumbo Loan for Under $20
I think I've made it clear before that I find no shame in talking about how hard we work for our clients. My assistant, Debbie, and I see a good number of mortgage applications come across our desks every week and in 2018, 60% of them have been for jumbo home loans, which means that our borrowers must demonstrate strong credit depth by way of an adequate number of tradelines on their credit report. Gone are the days when one could just have a decent FICO score in order to cross … (3 comments)
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fico: No Tax Returns, No Cry
- 07/22/18 12:20 PM
No Tax Returns, No Cry
While it never rivaled in popularity its sister reggae tune of genre-defining, historic significance, let's dust off this platter and give it a spin. Because let's face it, in the fully-documented world of today's mortgage qualifications it would seem that if you're self-employed, or if you're a real estate agent who gets a 1099, you pretty much have to shoot the sheriff if you want to get a decent loan but don't have two, strong years of tax returns. No more.
Our bank statement program may allow you to qualify with just 12 months of business bank statements. … (6 comments)
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fico: How to Get a Jumbo Mortgage After Foreclosure Fallout
- 07/16/18 09:26 PM
How to Get a Jumbo Mortgage After Foreclosure Fallout
When economic war ravaged the real estate market a decade ago, statistics show that peak foreclosure activity in the US occurred somewhere in 2010, but that we continued to experience an elevated level through at least 2013. Therefore, at the tail end of the real estate recession, those who lost their homes to foreclosure may still be only five or six years, if not less, from the credit event that largely determines their fate when they try to re-enter the housing market. Can they do it? What about if they need a jumbo mortgage?
What … (2 comments)
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fico: Go Shorty: How to Get a Jumbo Mortgage After a Short Sale
- 06/28/18 06:06 AM
Go Shorty: How to Get a Jumbo Mortgage After a Short Sale
We’re halfway through 2018 and by now, what some would describe as the “peak” of the real estate recession is almost a decade in the rear-view mirror. Still, statistics show that short sales continued to increase in number until about 2012. Those transactions now have nearly six years of “seasoning,” or time that has elapsed since the short sale was final. Fortunately, and in many cases, this interim has allowed potential home buyers enough time to restore their creditworthiness and to reconsider entering the housing market. Can they do it? … (4 comments)
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fico: 10% Down Jumbo Mortgage with No PMI
- 05/27/18 08:28 PM
10% Down Jumbo Mortgage with No PMI
With the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee poised in June of 2018 to increase in the rates that impact home equity lines of credit ("HELOCs"), home buyers who have traditionally used "piggyback" or "80-10-10" solutions to purchase a home with less than a 20% down payment may have second thoughts. Not about buying the house, per se, but about a HELOC rate that could approach 7% --- with future adjustments possible as well. When Prime Rate was in the mid-3% range, most 80/10/10 loans had very palatable start rates but after a decade of seeing … (1 comments)
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fico: How Deep Is Your Credit History?
- 05/21/18 07:38 AM
How Deep Is Your Credit History?
"My credit is excellent! I have, like, a 950 score!"
With such hyperbole (FICO scores range between 300 and 850) you'd almost expect this to be a quote from the president. But in reality, we hear such statements frequently in the mortgage business. And it makes perfect sense. With the proliferation of the Credit Karmas and Life Locks of the world, more and more consumers are staying attuned to their credit profile and generally speaking, that is a good thing. However, there is an important distinction to be made between having high credit scores and having a credit profile that … (20 comments)
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fico: Jumbo Mortgage with an H-4 Visa
- 04/15/18 08:07 PM
Jumbo Mortgage with an H-4 Visa
"I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
my heart to greater loyalty,
my hands to larger service,
and my health to better living,
for my club, my community,
my country and my world."
Hold on a second! That's the pledge for 4-H Club, Rob, and you're supposed to be discussing the H-4 visa here. You've got it backwards. Ah yes....sorry about that.
The H-4 visa. This is a visa issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members of H-1B visa holders. These individuals are not US citizens or permanent resident aliens (green card holders) but "non-permanent resident aliens." Make … (3 comments)
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How to Buy a House When You Have Bad Credit
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