Can my wife and i get a mortgage?

[Anonymous]

Hi there my wife and I are looking to get a mortgage in the middle of spring and are wondering if anyone on this forum thinks

we will qualify. We have a 35k gross wage with a below 10% DTI are credit scores are each 620 and higher. We are looking

to spend 97,500 with a 20% down payment making are total loan amount 77,800 any input would be appreciated tks.

[Anonymous]

On the surface, you should be able to get a loan with those numbers, but the terms may no be favorable (high interest rate, etc).

Couple of things:

- If you're putting 20% down, you'd probably want to look for a conventional loan, but a 620 might be tough to qualify with. The advantage, if you can qualify, is you avoid PMI and save some money every month.

- Consider using some of that down payment to pay off some of your outstanding debts. You don't list them, but 35k *10%=3500. Are these credit cards, car loans, student loans? Reducing those balances should help increase your credit scores and improve your DTI ratio. Of course, the downside is that you won't have the 20% down you've been saving.

- You don't list where you live, but a join income of 35k may qualify you for local and state down payment assistance programs. Many of these are loans that are forgiven (i.e. they don't require you to pay them back, ever) if you stay in the house for X years and make payments on time.

Lots of info for you to look for and find in these forums and elsewhere. Do the homework, and try not to be in a hurry. It's tough (we are also waiting until summer or fall), but be patient!

[Anonymous]

Hey cass tks for the info, yes that debt is credit card debt. I guess overall we were wondering it is more likely that we would be approved

for a conventional or fha loan tks again.

[Anonymous]

Glad to help. My opinion above is just one of hundreds here, so make sure to talk to others as well.

As for FHA vs Conventional, that's an eternal debate. Usually, FHA is ideal for low scores and/or low down payment, and tend to be more expensive over the life of the loan (just from what I've read). Conventional loans are, with some exceptions, better if you can qualify. Your down payment will probably go a long way, but so will dropping those CC balances (and keeping them down!)

EDIT: this is not to say FHA is strictly worse than conventional, just that they are different and serve different functions.

[IOBA]

kelsey65 - one of the banks I was considering was ingdirect.   They have a mortgage solution finder on their website.

Before you apply with them, please understand their products.   Twenty percent down is a minimum.  Plus you pay closing costs (or get the seller to pay them).   They offer only 4 products.   The website will give you an accurate big picture of what your interest rate will be, what your monthly payments will be,  what your term will be, what closing costs will be, and they explain each loan product they offer.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Kelsey, just found an excellent thread on the Convention vs. FHA here (it's at the top of this forum). It will far surpass anything I stated above.