topic Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house! in Mortgage Loans

Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:24:45 GMT

Hello everyone! I spent all night reading about score reports and the + and - of each. I decided to buy the Suze Orman kit (then I had a panic-- these are real FICOs, right?), with all three scores and reports and will look through all that. Then, I will sign up for a monitoring system just to see if there are any sig changes. I want to buy a house in spring, and I had a recent collection agency scare, that I need to keep an eye on and make sure it does not hit my report in error, so I think this combo will work for my situation.

Great news- my scores were 740-755 each!!!! YIKES! Even better than I thought! Now, I just have to focus on dti!

How does my plan sound?

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:26:48 GMT

congrats! anyting 720 and over you get what you want, anything over 720 and your just a show off

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

ShanetheMortgageMan — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:28:35 GMT

Yes, your scores open the door for just about any mortgage financing program out there. What is the amount of home you want to buy, what is your income, and what are your monthly payments on credit card, student loan, car loan, etc.?

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:57:40 GMT

With collection agencies, never asume they receive payment (if you had to make one) and kill it before reporting. Follow up and get names dates and next of kin saying paid or you could be in for big suprise.

If you get a letter saying you paid than you should still check your credit.

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:43:06 GMT

I had a fiasco with a bill due to the hospital that we forgot to pay. We just got the collection letter last Friday. Since then, we have paid in full through the hospital, got documentation in writing from them to verify a zero balance, they have told us they called the ca to cancel the collection, AND today we will be sending a dv letter to the CA. I will also be checking my credit report for the next few months to make sure it does not show. The experts here have told me that when the ca goes to verify the debt, there will be no debt to verify and they cannot post anything to my cr.

Shane- I will respond tonight with our bills and etc. We are looking for a house around 130,000, and I believe it would put us a 45% dti, with ptit.

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

ShanetheMortgageMan — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:57:47 GMT

Your debt ratio is looking pretty good then.

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:52:01 GMT

Shane-

Our debt is:

Car Loans: 735 (ouch! No where near paid off either)

Student Loans: 225

Loan: 190

Credit Cards: 425 (ouch! Trying to get that down)

Total: 1575

Income:

Me: 3090

DH: 2680 (minimum, but often gets over time)

We have 0 down, and will be looking for a seller to finance closing costs...

Still puts us a bit short, I think, but we are working on it!

We are pregnant with #2, so we need the house!

We are hoping to go through Navy FCU, and they offer 100% financing with no PMI, and the scores look good, but the dti is not great.

I also have about 40,000 in a 403b.

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

ShanetheMortgageMan — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:35:53 GMT

It just might work out, I know Navy FCU is a little tight on their debt ratios though... at 6.5% your DTI is about 44.3%, at 6% it's 43.6%. You can also get 100% financing without PMI from other lenders other than Navy FCU, so if they say your DTI is too high for the sales price target, and if you aren't OK with the amount they pre-approve you for.. then check around, as with $40k in a 403b and excellent credit you should be able to qualify with a DTI much higher than 45%.

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

pattycake — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:41:32 GMT

Shane, as of today, my scores are as below, but I am disputing a number of things on my TU report.

My DTI is low, and I usually PIF my cc's each month. I recently rebuilt my credit, and I have 2 years left on my car loan, at $410 a month, student loans are $300. My income this year will have been about $96K. I plan to wait until next November to apply for a mortgage, what steps should I be taking to be in OP's shoes?

Re: Got my first scores, and I have a plan to get ready for a house!

ShanetheMortgageMan — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:27:31 GMT

Hi pattycake,

As far as the amount of house you should be looking at, with your current debts, I'd keep it to $350k or below and your debt ratio should be OK. How has your credit been for the 24 months prior to when you are planning on buying? You should have as few as negatives as possible within that time period, however minor items can be OK if you have compensating factors (low debt ratio, good reserves, 5-10% down payment). I'm not so much an expert on rebuilding credit & improving your credit scores, but I do suggest that you have at least 3 trade lines within 24 months of on time payments reporting by the time you apply.. and a variety of trade lines is good too (such as revolving, installment, open), which you appear to have. Again, not a requirement, but just my personal suggestion.