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Home loan chances

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jcmaroon
Member

Home loan chances

My wife and I are hoping to purchase a home this summer. We are looking in the $350,000 to $400,000 range.

 

Situation is this:

 

We'll both probably have credit scores in the 720-730 range by then. We're both in the high 600s right now, mostly due to high utilization ratio that I'm taking care of as much as I can.

 

My student loan payments are high - $1,600 a month - but our DTI ratio will be quite healthy because our household income is $205,000 or so. Only one car payment right now, which helps.

 

I'm wanting to get a mortgage with just 3.5 percent down - FHA obviously.

 

Thoughts and experiences? I guess I'm trying to figure out, among other things, when to stop paying money into lowering my credit utilization and start saving for the down payment instead. At what point will our credit scores be good enough to qualify? Is there a magic number?

Message 1 of 23
22 REPLIES 22
tooleman694
Valued Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

Magic score is a 640 with FHA, 680 with Conventional.

 

With your scores, I would go Conventional to save on PMI.

Message 2 of 23
jcmaroon
Member

Re: Home loan chances

I thought you have to have 20 percent for a conventional?

 

I didn't realize that your FICO could be that low. I've read all this stuff out there about people with 740s being turned down.

Message 3 of 23
tooleman694
Valued Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

LOL where are you reading that!!  You have come to the right place.

 

FHA is 3.5 percent down, Conventional is 3 percent down.

 

FHA you will pay a high PMI payment every month, Conventional you can get around it. So its the way to go if you have the score.

Message 4 of 23
Cadillac-XTS
Established Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

I thought for conventional to avoid pmi you needed atleast 10% down. Am I wrong?

Message 5 of 23
tooleman694
Valued Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

All you gotta do is LPMI, you can pay the upfront fee or you can have them up your rate a little.

Message 6 of 23
Cadillac-XTS
Established Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

Oh ok. Thanks for the info

Message 7 of 23
jadeite788
Established Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

I was told by my credit union by the mortgage department that FHA is 640 for score with a 3.5% downpayment with interest of 3.75 and a conventional is 680 credit score with 5% down payment with interest that will vary. 


Starting Score: 565
Current Experian Score: 634 (Lender pull)
Current Equifax Score: previous 668, 680 as of 11/12/13 lender pull
Current Transunion Score: previous 675,677 as of 09/23/13
Goal Score: 750

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Message 8 of 23
jcmaroon
Member

Re: Home loan chances

Is the process pretty predictable? In other words, with, say, 5 percent down, a good DTI ratio, and a 725-730 should we be pretty confident in approval for $350,000-$400,000?

Message 9 of 23
tooleman694
Valued Contributor

Re: Home loan chances

All banks have different guidelines they follow. Some might want 5 percent, some have different debt ratios, and so on.

 

Its part of Fannie Mae’s standard eligibility requirements.

Message 10 of 23
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