Credit. What are your credit scores and if you have any, what negatives (collections, charge-offs, late payments, BK's, judgments, tax liens, back owed child support, etc.) are on are credit and if they are owing or not. My credit scores now are EQ 635, TU 656. My wife's scores now are EQ 640, TU 655When were the negatives, this is important, month/year is preferred, such as 3/07. I have a collection for $140 from an old cable bill. Account is about 61/2 years old. My wife has two paid collections for $75 (1/2009), and $160 (2008), for cable and phone, respectively. She has 3 current open medical collections $99, $201, and $827 placed on her credit 3/2010. She has been trying to settle these, but there seem to be two CA's after this account. She has begun looking for an atty to straighten this out, if necessary. We have a 30 day late from January for the car payment. I had just returned to work, after two years of unemployment. No other lates in the last year. Also I have an improper judgment listed on my credit, which was recently vacated, and I'm waiting for that to clear my credit reports within the next 30 days or less. Finally we both had an old CH 13 BK, that is set to age off of EQ (the only CB reporting) in Oct. (Filed Oct 2001).
Income. Gross income is what is important when qualifying, not net income. Our combined gross income is about $59,000/annual.
Source of income. Where is the income coming from? Employment, pension, social security, disability, foster care, VA benefits, rental income, lottery income, etc. If it's from employment, is it salary, hourly, overtime, bonus, commission, etc. Our income is from employment and we are both paid hourly.
Monthly debt payments. This goes hand in hand with income and the new mortgage payment to determine your debt to income (DTI) ratio. Only items on credit is the general rule, but also items such as alimony, child support, union dues and some other work related expenses are included too. Only the minimum required payment amount is what underwriters are concerned with. Items such as utilities, cell phone, insurance, etc. are not included in the DTI. If you have a question if something is included just ask. $423 car payment, $45 (minimums on 3 credit cards), we both have student loans but they are in deferrment as we are both still students.
Employment (for those who are employed). What type of employment such as self-employed, S-corp, W-2'd, 1099'd, part-time, full time, 2nd job, etc. How long have you been on the job & how long have you been in the industry. I work full-time, W-2'd, my wife works part time (48 hours bi-weekly) and is also W2'd. My wife has been at her place of employment for 5 1/2 years. I have been on my job for 8 months. A 2 year employment history is what most loan programs require. For those who have been self-employed less than 2 years, what did you do before your venture? For those of you who have less than 2 years employment history, did you graduate from a higher education school before you started working? Yes, I was in school for about 12-18 months prior, and I am working in the field that I went to school to train for.
Assets/Reserves. This is to determine how much you could potentially have as a down payment and also as reserves to help qualify (for example if your debt to income ratio is high this could help qualify you anyway). Savings, checking, 401k, IRA, stocks, bonds, CD's, mutual funds, money market accounts, gift, etc. all can qualify. If it is a pension or retirement account that does not permit you to withdraw or take a loan against (other than for hardship), and is only able to be used after you quit or retire, then it cannot be used as reserves. We have about $6,000 saved so far, however, will likely have about 8-9K total within the next few months when we apply. No other assets available.
Location. What state & county. City or zip if you want but usually that is not needed. This is to determine FHA loan limits, what special programs might be available for you, how much property taxes & homeowners insurance will likely be, amongst other items.
Property. Is it a single family house, condo, townhome, 2-4 units, 5+ units, manufactured home, a co-op, condotel, the penthouse of a 45 story apartment building, suburban, rural, a lot of acres, a working farm, a gas station, etc. Also the condition of the property is helpful, as lenders have certain minimum requirements properties must meet (working utilities, etc.). Single Family
Value. For a purchase transaction, what is the home price range you are looking in, narrowed it down to, or are under contract for... and for a refinance transaction what is the appraised value of the home and when did you purchase your home. We will be looking for homes in the range of $100-120,000.
Transaction Type. Is it a purchase, refinance just for better terms, refinance to take cash out, looking for a 2nd mortgage, a reverse mortgage, etc. Purchase
