I sent in a pre-screening short 1 page application two weeks ago. I got tired of waiting so I called today to check the status of things today. The USDA lady said that it looked like I qualifed for up to $144,000. She is mailing me the letter and application today. They still have money left in the very low income program.
Does this mean I am pre-approved assuming everything stays the same on my credit which it will. I told her that I was paying off my credit cards tomorrow and the only debt I would have would be my car payment. She seemed to think the USDA required me to pay off the cards and close the accounts. Is this correct? I worked hard to get these cards and do not want to close the accounts it will lower my credit score.
I wanted to know if I could just pay them down so that the minimum payment was only $20 a month or so. She then seemed to back track and said it would be ok but that it would change the amount I could borrow. She said it could be anywhere between $118.000 and $136,000 depending on insurance/taxes.
Since the credit bureaus are slow to update balances do you think the credit card companies would fax me proof saying that I have paid them down? I don't the program to run out of funds before I find a house.
How the heck am I supposed to know how much house I can buy? Will this be in the pre-screnning letter with invitation to submit real application?
