Mortgage Loan while Married - 1 has excellent credit, 1 has excellent income

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I've been working hard to rebuild my credit and I am getting there.  I am now in the mid 600's, and my calculations have be in the 700's by early next year.  My wife, on the other hand, is in the 800's, though my income is 3x hers.

When applying jointly for a mortgage -- will they consider our joint income and use her credit score, since it is far superior to mine?

We have job security and a good debt to income ratio -- but should I defiitely wait until next year before exploring our mortgage rates, or would it balance out with our combined income and credit scores?

I previously recalled reading that they would take the best credit score between all co-applicants... not sure if that is correct or not.

Thanks for your guidance -- this forum and community is outstanding.

[StartingOver10]

No, they don't take the best score. The lenders use the lowest mid-mortgage score.

Where are you getting your mortgage scores - from here? Or are you using FICO 8's?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, calculating FICO 8's using CreditCheckTotal. Disappointing about only using the low-middle, but I suppose that should be expected.

I'll continue cleaning things up and give it a try next year.  

Are there any reputable lenders that are known to average them or use the high-middle?  I read somewhere that some lenders might do that in order to be competitive.

[Anonymous]

The Fico8 scores could be different than the mortgage scores. My mid-mortgage score was higher than the Fico8 and my husband's mid- mortgage score was lower than th Fico8. I think it is worth it to purchase the FICO Mortgage scores so that you know exactly what numbers you are dealing with before applying.

[Anonymous]

Remember they wil also use the lowest of either your mid score or your wifes. So if your wifes credit is 800+ and you get yours to like 650, they are going to base the loan off of the 650. 

In our case, my wife has better credit than me and makes slightly more. Also there are less bills in her name than mine so her dti is significantly lower since the car, student loans, etc. are all in my name. We were able to just use her information and still manage to qualify for the home in a range we were looking for anyway. So you may be able to calculate her DTI and see what you can qualify for just based on her info.