Mortgage - Wells Fargo

[tj123001]

Hi - this is my first post here, so I would appreciate any feedback.  We are trying to buy a house here in Orange Co, CA.  I am working with my mortgage lender and last night she told me that because my husband's credit was 630 and not 640- we would have to get an exception to our loan.  I am not sure what that means.  I am trying to get his score up, I have been paying down his credit card balances.  I am just not sure how long that will take and when the score will show improvement.  

She seemed to think we would get it through - but I am worried what that mean for us.  Has anyone had an experience like this?  Again I appreciate and advice!

Thanks!

[ezdriver]

It simply means that the loan product they have in mind for you has some underwriting guidelines or rules. One of those rules seems to require a 640 score for that particular product. If the rest of your application is very strong, the lender may sometimes waive the requirement. That's all.

[edcampbell613]

Please also remember when you deal with the big banks, they have rules they put over the "agency" rules.

example, if you are getting a FHA loan, FHA can buy down to 580-600 ish?

Wells Fargo will take a look at their peeformance history and say "we only want credit scores above 640"

Find a mortgage broker/corresponding lender, thats what they do best is find a lender that will buy your credit.

[StartingOver10]

tj123001, you will be much happier with a correspondent lender. In my experience working with Wells is a nighmare. I am a Realtor and Wells Fargo has a very bad reputation for originating loans.  Here in S Fl a full 80% of the pre-approvals WF issues do not close. It has gotten so bad over the past almost decade that most of the agents here won't even accept a WF PQ letter without having the information verified by another trusted lender. Don't put yourself through the heartache.

WF servicing is fine and they buy up a lot of loans that others originate, so you might even end up back with WF after you get your loan through someone else.

Do some research on Wells Fargo, then run away from them and make application with a correspondent lender (they originate and fund their own loans) 

[tj123001]

Thanks for the info - this may seem like a stupid question, but what do you mean by a corresponding lender?  Is this just another lender, like BOA, or Chase?

Also, according to the builder, I have to get a pre-qualify letter from WF to participate in the phases of the community.  I thought this was strange as I haven't dealt with that before, but I thought maybe it was a California thing.  (We moved here from S. Florida).  

[edcampbell613]

You should be able to ask your Realtor for someone to call, they usually have a favorite.

If not post city and state you are buying in and someone here can refer someone for you.

Builders get land financing real cheap from the big banks like Wells, so they will be on a "prefered" list. Not sure why as they screw up more loans then they put together. Some pay marketing agrements.

[StartingOver10]

I have a lender in your area that is a correspondent lender.

The big box banks (Wells, BOA, Chase, PNC etc) are not correspondent lenders.

A correspondent lender is someone that you probably think of as a mortgage broker - but the difference is they underwrite their own loans and fund their own loans. Then the sell the loan to someone like Wells Fargo.

I will pm you an excellent correspondent lender in CA.

It is not unusual for a builder to want to see a PQ from their lender. But they are not allowed to prohibit you getting your loan from someone else.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

It is very tough to get approved with Wells Fargo for scores under 640, they will do them but apply much more rigorous guidelines than for those who have a 640+ score.  Make sure that the loan goes through a full underwrite as part of their pre-approval, if it doesn't then look for another lender afterwards (as StartingOver10 mentioned, you just need to get pre-approved by them and don't have to go through with them).