If I applied for a mortgage today......

[Anonymous]

I posted my dilemma with my husband's credit scores and possibly not being able to use him on our mortgage loan a few weeks ago. However, I want to know if I applied on my own today would I be able to qualify based on my income alone and if so for how much?

I currently make $45,000 a year and I am a teacher (if that helps any). My FICO scores are 776, 782, and 782. I have a cc payment of $350 a month and a student loan payment of $150. I currently have $15,000 saved. I have never been late on a payment ever in life. I know my DTI is high, but I always pay on time and above the minimum. What would my chances be on my own? Also what type of interest rate do you think I would qualify for?     

Thanks

Patricia

[Anonymous]

I was in the same boat as you.  Was able to purchase home on my own and because of being a homestead state, he was still on title.  Scores were not as high as yours though.  Right around 664 and the mortgage company only used my Transunion score which was pretty clean.

Wait to see what some of the experts here have to say.  The advice is usually right on point.  Just wanted you to know it worked for me.

[Anonymous]

You might check and see if your city or state has special programs for teachers.

I know that both Chicago and Illinois have them as well as other cities and states.

They offer special rates and sometimes outright grants to teachers.


Kevin

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Hi Patricia, what is the range of home prices you'd be looking at?  That will determine if you have a shot or not... Fannie Mae loan programs can approve debt ratios up to 64.99%... which means $1,937.12 is the most you housing payment could be and still qualify.

[Anonymous]

We are looking at the $180- $200 thousand dollar range. I originally wanted to wait until the summer, but I think that is my fear of being turned down talking. What does it take to qualify for the Fannie Mae loan programs you mentioned and would a bank like B Of A have access to those programs? Thanks Shane for the good advice you gave me on my previous post. I look forward to what you and others have to say.

[Anonymous]

Miss Renae thanks for the encouragement. My husband wants me to try and go for it on my own. We have out grown our 2/2 apartment. We have two kids a girl who is 3 and a boy who is 12. My daughter is still in our bedroom and we are ready to get her out. She is excited about getting her own bedroom just like her big brother. It's nice to know that there is a chance I can make that happen.

[Creditaddict]

Countrywide has an automated computer approval that they run you through first, with those scores and stellar record, I would be real surprised if the computer system kicked you out.  If you can get run through that system, it's basically instant and it's limited documents you have to provide to close.

Quicken loans also has a similiar system.

I would start with Countrywide though.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

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ladylpk74 wrote:

We are looking at the $180- $200 thousand dollar range. I originally wanted to wait until the summer, but I think that is my fear of being turned down talking. What does it take to qualify for the Fannie Mae loan programs you mentioned and would a bank like B Of A have access to those programs? Thanks Shane for the good advice you gave me on my previous post. I look forward to what you and others have to say.

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I'm not certain if BofA retail has a way to do Fannie Mae approvals, the wholesale side does if we ran the approvals directly with Fannie Mae and "released" them to BofA though.  Your debt ratio is a bit on the high side, around 57%, but if you have compensating factors (like 4 months PITI reserves) it's still likely you'd be approved.  I wouldn't recommend Countrywide as their rates on the retail end are very high compared to other lenders, brokers usually blow them out of the water... Countrywide also has their own underwriting system, called CLUES, which is a little more conservative than Fannie Mae's DU (desktop underwriter), but in some ways it can be more lenient... for example I got an EA-I approval with Fannie Mae's DU for a client, but then when I ran it through CLUES it got accepted at their highest approval level.  Just depends on the situation... however with your good credit scores, and if you have the reserves I mentioned, you should be looking pretty good for Fannie Mae's DU.

[Anonymous]

Shane I have a few more questions. First, what size of a down payment do the Fannie Mae loan programs require? Second, how do I find out if a lender has access to these particular programs? Third, you mentioned that the loan could be ran directly through Fannie Mae. How would I do that?

Message Edited by ladylpk74 on 11-19-2007 04:52 AM

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Hi ladylpk,

1)  Fannie Mae offers "Flex" mortgage programs which either require 3% or 0% down.  The 3% down program is called Flex 97, the 0% down program is called Flex 100.  Fannie Mae's normal loan program requires 5% down.  There is a slight rate increase for the Flex 97 & Flex 100 programs.

2) You would ask the lender if they are a Fannie Mae approved lender

3) Only a broker or lender can run the loan directly with Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system, called Desktop Underwriter (DU for short).  Brokers run it through DO (Desktop Originator), lenders run it through DU.  Each lender has their own DU guidelines, meaning that there is the plain "vanilla" guidelines from DU, and then depending on the lender's risk assessment, they could add their own guidelines on top of it.  One example, DU does not require any amount of time in to pass in order to use a new appraised value when a refinance is done.. however most lenders have their own requirement of 6 or 12 months.  Depending on how many DU lender sponsorships a broker has, a broker is able to select from over a hundred different lenders DU guidelines in order to find the lender that will fit the customers needs.  So lenders are limited in that capacity.. but a broker who doesn't have multiple DU lender sponsorships would also be limited.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like.