04
Nov
By support
Home Mortgage Tips

Have You Had Trouble Getting a Mortgage? Three Tips for Sprucing Up Your Credit Before Reapplying

Have You Had Trouble Getting a Mortgage? Three Tips for Sprucing Up Your Credit Before ReapplyingIf you’ve had some trouble getting approved for a mortgage recently, you’re not alone. Many individuals face mortgage challenges due to past blemishes on their credit reports or a personal financial crisis that resulted in bills not being paid on time.

In this post we’ll share three quick tips for sprucing up your personal credit before reapplying for a mortgage. With a bit of luck and hard work you can be on your way to purchasing that new dream home.

Pay Off Your Credit Cards And Lines Of Credit

The easiest way to improve your credit score and prove that you can afford your mortgage payments is to eliminate other forms of debt from your monthly budget. If you have outstanding credit card, student loan or other debts, get them paid off as quickly as possible.

You’ll also want to avoid taking on any new loans while you’re trying to get your mortgage approved as these are likely to show up on your credit report and can hurt your chances at approval.

Pull Your Credit Report And Look For Errors

If you haven’t seen your credit report recently, it might be worth investing in a copy so you can see exactly what your lender sees when they are evaluating you for a mortgage. You may discover that there are errors or inaccuracies that can be cleared off with a quick phone call, such as a past loan that was fully paid or a missed car payment that was reported in error. Every credit report error that you can fix will bring you one step closer to your mortgage approval, so spend a few minutes combing through your report.

Pay All Of Your Bills On Time

Did you know that every overdue bill can leave a negative mark on your credit report? With so many bills to juggle – credit cards, cell phones, utilities and more – it can be tough to keep them all organized and paid before the due date. However, if you’re working to secure a mortgage you must keep your bills paid to avoid being reported as a late or overdue payment.

If you’ve had some trouble getting approved for a mortgage in the past, take a few minutes to contact your local mortgage professional today to ask for their advice. You may find that they have additional tips and strategies that you can leverage to better your chances of being approved.

28
Oct
By support
Home Mortgage Tips

Buying a Home? 4 Steps You Can Take to Ensure You Start out with a Low Monthly Mortgage Payment

Buying a Home? 4 Steps You Can Take to Ensure You Start out with a Low Monthly Mortgage PaymentAre you thinking about buying a new house or condo? If so, you’ve likely given some thought to your mortgage and as to how you can pay as little as possible in order to own your new home.

Below we’ll share four easy steps that you can take to ensure you start out with an affordable monthly mortgage payment.

Make A Large Down Payment On Your Home

The easiest way to reduce your monthly payment is to invest as much as possible in your down payment. The less you have to borrow, the less you’ll be required to pay back.

If you can put a sizeable amount down on your home you’ll find that your monthly payments are going to be very manageable. You’ll also save a lot of money in interest.

Maintain A High Credit Score

When a lender assesses your financial history they’ll take an in-depth look at your credit score in order to determine how much risk you present to them. If you’ve kept a clean credit rating and have a high score, it’s likely that you will qualify for a lower interest rate than someone with a lower credit score – even if you both have the same monthly income.

Buy A Smaller, More Efficient Home

When you’ve made your short list of homes and you’re scheduling your viewings, ask yourself – do you need a home this big, or this expensive? If you can do with a smaller, more efficient home you can reduce the amount of mortgage financing that you require and this will in turn reduce the amount that you need to pay each month.

Consider A Longer Mortgage Term

Finally, if you need to reduce your monthly payment at any cost you can stretch out your mortgage repayment period by a few years. Note that while this can reduce your payment amount it will actually increase the total amount that you end up paying back as you’ll pay more in interest.

While the above are general tips for reducing your mortgage payment, it’s likely that there are other strategies that are unique to your financial situation. Contact your local mortgage professional at your convenience and they’ll be able to share insights that are relevant to your income, your credit and the price range you’re looking to buy into.

23
Oct
By support
Home Mortgage Tips

Did You Know: Five Factors That Lenders Won’t Even Consider When Assessing You For a Mortgage

Did You Know: Five Factors That Lenders Won't Even Consider when Assessing You for a MortgageAre you thinking about buying a new home? If you’re going to apply for mortgage financing, you can rest assured that your lender will be checking in to your credit history, income and other items in order to assess your ability to manage this debt.

However, there also quite a few variables that they won’t inspect during the due diligence process. In today’s blog post we’ll look at five factors that a lender or mortgage underwriter won’t consider when assessing your suitability for a mortgage loan.

Your Family Status

It’s against the law for lenders to make any special considerations as to your family status, whatever it might be. Both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act protect you from discrimination in regards to your family status.

Your Age or Race

Similarly, lenders cannot factor in your age or your race when assessing your suitability for a mortgage loan. Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer who has just graduated from college or a retiree looking to purchase that dream condo on the beach, age will not be a factor in your mortgage application.

Shopping Around with Other Lenders

While you might have heard that checking your credit too often can cause issues with your credit score, this isn’t the case when shopping around with multiple mortgage providers.

Only the first “hard inquiry” on your credit by a mortgage lender in a two-week period will count against your score; after this, the credit agencies will assume that you’re doing comparison shopping with other providers and avoid factoring these checks in.

Unemployment and Other Unstable Income Sources

If you have sources of income that are deemed irregular or unstable, such as a small side business or unemployment income, it’s a safe bet that these will not be considered as income when your mortgage application is assessed. As the typical mortgage loan is repaid back over 10 to 20 years, lenders and underwriters are looking for stability in your ability to pay.

Any Non-Borrower’s Income

While it can certainly be helpful to have a spouse or other family member include their income along with yours to prove your repayment ability, unless they are listed on the loan as a co-borrower their income will not be counted.

If you have other questions, be sure to contact your local mortgage broker or other professional as they are an excellent source of quality information and expertise.