Hello! I've been reading the forums for a while, but this is my first real post. I've received so many helpful tips from the other posts, so thank you!
During the past year I've been working on my credit as my husband and I look to buy a house. Due to some crappy situations as a result of his parents, my husband's scores are not great so I will be applying by myself. We are looking to start the process July 1. My information is below:
Credit scores: Pulls from MyFICO March 2013 - TU 803, Equifax 802
Income: $56K, have worked for the same company over 5 years
Assets/Reserves: $35,000 in 401K, $10,500 in Roth IRA, will also have $10,000 in the bank on 7/1
Debts: Credit Cards are paid off but open (I use them and then pay them off to keep activity current) - $0/$29,200 AAoA 7 years
Ford Motor: $406/month
Student Loan: $122/month
My question is around my DTI. Earlier this month, on an unofficial call with the broker he mentioned that I could probably be approved for a loan between $180-$200K (broker doesn't have my current info as our last pull was May 2012 when I had over $20K in credit card debt so he was only going by what I told him). Yesterday I went ahead paid off my student loan in order to lower my DTI. I know it won't be a huge bump, but will that reduction in monthly payments increase the amount I could be approved for?
Starting Score: 726 EQ, 727 TU, 715 EX (May '12 Lender pulls)