Remember how Spring was always the home-buying
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] season? Don't count on that happening this year and you can
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] point the finger, at least in part, at the new lending hoops buyers must jump through. According to
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], one out of three home buyers will fail to get a
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]mortgage this spring.
Understanding the mortgage process and meeting lenders' more
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]stringent qualification requirements have become big obstacles
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] for applicants, according to a survey the site conducted. Most
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] recent home buyers -- 70% -- described the mortgaging process as more difficult than they expected. And those who bought homes
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] during the bubble years, when mortgage loans were given out like candy at Halloween, are especially shell-shocked by the new lending
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] standards.
One of the biggest problems home buyers
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] run into today concern their credit scores and how, in general, they don't work to improve them before applying
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] for a loan. In the same vein, a recent
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]found that poor credit was the top reason that renters gave for not buying a home.
(Following closely behind poor credit was the
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] self-awareness that they couldn't actually afford to buy or keep up a home and
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]the perception that now is not really a good time to buy. Hooray for enlightenment on the first point, but with
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] and interest rates among the lowest ever seen,
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] how isn't this a good time to buy?)
Back to the mortgagematch.com study: A full 35% of
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] successful buyers said they didn't even know their credit scores
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]when they started to look for houses to buy. Somewhere, a Realtor is clenching his or her teeth just reading that. These
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] buyers decide they want to buy a house but don't know their credit
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]scores? Home-buying is a process that starts with getting your financial house in order and <em>then</em> hitting the brick and mortar
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] ones.
Sue Stewart, senior vice president for
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]Move, Inc. said, "Buyers who prepare themselves financially early before they start looking for a home will
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] have a better chance of succeeding. If you want to be in
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]a position to land the best mortgage ... get your documentation together
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]and find a lender you trust."
Some tips before you apply for a mortgage to help
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]you beat the odds:
Pay down your debt. Reduce your total
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] debt -- your monthly payments on cars, student loans, credit cards -- before you start the mortgage application. The
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] goal is to reduce your overall debt-to-income ratio and improve
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] your credit score. The somewhat unrealistic guideline that lenders want everyone to toe is that your total housing
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]expenses not exceed 28% of your monthly gross income. For
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]decades, people have exceeded that quite happily but now the lenders believe they know best and they control
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]the money.
Clean up your credit. Start with figuring out
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. Obtain your free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and carefully review them, noting all negative items. Correct
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]inaccurate or outdated items. Your credit score needs to be a minimum of 680 -- preferably 720 or higher -- to qualify for
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]a lower interest rate on a mortgage.
Delay any large purchases, don't
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]apply for any new credit until you close on your house. Lenders check credit reports at the time you apply
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]and then again right before closing. A last-minute spending spree is
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] going to be flagged. Once you clear the mortgage hurdle, feel
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] free to move about the cabin and decorate your new house to your heart's content. (That's said in jest; charge wisely.)
Increase your down payment. This reduces the loan-to-value
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]ratio and improves your chances of getting a loan. How
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]do you do this? You save up for it or call up your rich relatives. There are
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]also a lot of community programs to help first-time buyers, so check around.
Get your paperwork together. Your lender
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] will want to see pay stubs, bank statements, assets, credit
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] documents, income tax returns, all financial statements and possibly your fourth grade report card. OK, I made that last
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]one up, but you get the idea. This is paperwork central. And you better
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]make copies of everything you send them in case they ask you for it a third time.
Develop some
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]patience. You're going to need it.