Am I ready yet?

[Anonymous]

Borrowing the outline from Shane's stickied post, I'm looking for feedback regarding where I stand if I were to consider purchasing a property before the end of this year.

Credit scores:

   TU98 -779 (I understand this can be higher or lower depending on the model in use by the lender)

   EQ - 771

   EX - unknown

No negatives on any of my credit reports

Income:   54K

Source of income:  Salaried employment (W2).  Closing in on my first year with my current employer.  Three years total in the industry.

Monthly debt payments:  One student loan payment ($20.00).  Credit cards are paid in full monthly.  Only a small balance is allowed to report on one card for scoring.

Assets/Reserves:  $5,000 saved currently for down payment.  Will be saving an additional $5,000 for the reserves.  There will be no gifts/loans/etc and these amounts are starting points. 

Location:  Montgomery County, Maryland

Property Type:  Single family home, condo, or a townhome.

Value:  No more $250,000.

Occupancy:  Primary residence

Transaction Type:  First time home purchase

Current rent: $1,395 for a 2BR apartment.  I'm looking for a mortgage payment that would be lower than my current rent.

My preference is to go with a credit union (currently a Penfed member), however, if a mortgage broker would be a better option, I'm open to that as well.

[my25reasons]

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be. Your profile looks great.

[Walt_K]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Borrowing the outline from Shane's stickied post, I'm looking for feedback regarding where I stand if I were to consider purchasing a property before the end of this year.

Credit scores:

   TU98 -779 (I understand this can be higher or lower depending on the model in use by the lender)

   EQ - 771

   EX - unknown

No negatives on any of my credit reports

Income:   54K

Source of income:  Salaried employment (W2).  Closing in on my first year with my current employer.  Three years total in the industry.

Monthly debt payments:  One student loan payment ($20.00).  Credit cards are paid in full monthly.  Only a small balance is allowed to report on one card for scoring.

Assets/Reserves:  $5,000 saved currently for down payment.  Will be saving an additional $5,000 for the reserves.  There will be no gifts/loans/etc and these amounts are starting points. 

Location:  Montgomery County, Maryland

Property Type:  Single family home, condo, or a townhome.

Value:  No more $250,000.

Occupancy:  Primary residence

Transaction Type:  First time home purchase

Current rent: $1,395 for a 2BR apartment.  I'm looking for a mortgage payment that would be lower than my current rent.

My preference is to go with a credit union (currently a Penfed member), however, if a mortgage broker would be a better option, I'm open to that as well.

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Do both and see who gives you the best rate.  For all mortgage inquiries within a specified timeframe, FICO only scores one inquiry.  I think it's 30 or 45 days for the new versions of FICO (14 days for TU98?).  You don't have to let everyone pull your credit either.  If you have a trimerge report from say Penfed, and you know your midscore,  you can just ask other lenders for their best rates given a midscore of XXX.  They'll have to pull obviously if you go with them, but they should be able to give you their rates without running your credit.  I'd apply to Penfed, a broker, a couple of the big banks, and a few local banks as well.  See who comes up wtih the best rate. 

ETA:  Check out Eagle Bank.  I had a really good experience with them in this area.  I tried to PM you, but you don't have that enabled.  PM me if you want further contact info of the loan officer I worked with.

[Anonymous]

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@my25reasons wrote:

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be. Your profile looks great.

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I'm still under the impression that my current income is too low in general.

[Anonymous]

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@Walt_K wrote:

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Current rent: $1,395 for a 2BR apartment.  I'm looking for a mortgage payment that would be lower than my current rent.

My preference is to go with a credit union (currently a Penfed member), however, if a mortgage broker would be a better option, I'm open to that as well.

---

Do both and see who gives you the best rate.  For all mortgage inquiries within a specified timeframe, FICO only scores one inquiry.  I think it's 30 or 45 days for the new versions of FICO (14 days for TU98?).  You don't have to let everyone pull your credit either.  If you have a trimerge report from say Penfed, and you know your midscore,  you can just ask other lenders for their best rates given a midscore of XXX.  They'll have to pull obviously if you go with them, but they should be able to give you their rates without running your credit.  I'd apply to Penfed, a broker, a couple of the big banks, and a few local banks as well.  See who comes up wtih the best rate. 

ETA:  Check out Eagle Bank.  I had a really good experience with them in this area.  I tried to PM you, but you don't have that enabled.  PM me if you want further contact info of the loan officer I worked with.

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Walt, thanks for pointing out Eagle Bank - I've seen them around but haven't looked into them.  I will also get the mortgage conversation started with Penfed soon.  

I also went ahead and turned on my PM if you have any additional information to pass on.

[rckstrscott]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@my25reasons wrote:

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be. Your profile looks great.

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I'm still under the impression that my current income is too low in general.

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Your income may be 'low', but your debt to income ratio is great. I am in the process of closing on 185k house right now, with a similar salary as you and was told I could have gone as high as 250k because I had no debt as well..

Good luck!

-scott