income

[Anonymous]

So. We are looking to buy in 2015. My scores are in the high 6's to mid 7's. His are lower because of a foreclosure that won't fall off until 2017. His income is really what we rely on. Mine is under $10k a year from a little part time business. My husband is a partner in a company. Our gross and our net are far, far different numbers for both our incomes. When guessing what we would qualify for- what number of income should we be looking at? Gross or net? Will they even consider me on the loan since my credit is far better, but I have very, very little income? I would so much rather rates based off my scores!

[frugalQ]

If you and your DH apply jointly, the lender will pull your and his credit score from all three bureaus....and they will use the lower of the two mid score. This is not a lender specific criteria.

From an income perspective, if you and your husband receive W2, the lender will use your gross income when calculating DTI. If either of you are 1099, I believe they will use a two year gross avg. if you claim certain business deductions on your taxes, the lender may include those deductions in DTI calculation which would count as a reduction to gross income.

Just because your income is low, please do not discount it. That monthly income may be what's needed to get your DTI where you want it.

Lenders will look at your complete credit profile, not just scores (although there are minimum score requirements). So, if your husband had a lot of assets in his name, it may be beneficial to use those assets for mortgage underwriting.

Have you had a mortgage lender pull your credit to see where your scores are?

[Anonymous]

We have not had a lender pull yet. Since we were so shell-shocked over the foreclosure a few years ago we wanted to have every last little duck in a row before biting. Our lease is up in April and we were talking about what to do- based on reading in the forums, etc. I think we may sit tight one more year as much as it pains me. I miss being a home owner and renting over priced homes is totally crazy! If his mid score is what they will go off of it would be smarter to work a little harder getting his score up a little higher instead of taking a chance. Myfico says his mid score is not high enough to qualify - i am guessing a mtg pull would be lower from what i have read here. Thank you so much for your very informative reply!

[frugalQ]

You have to do what's best for you and your family.

Even if you wait another year, it would probably be good for you to speak with a loan officer and have your scores pulled. This will let you know exactly where you are...which will make it easier to plan your rebuilding strategy. At the very least you'll know where you stand.

The FICO version scores you pull here can be way off from the actual FICO versions used for mortgages.

Good luck to you!!

[Anonymous]

So, pulling it with a LO right now would now hurt anything later on down the road?

[Anonymous]

No.  If they let it fly this go round, doesn't matter, if they shoot it down, and you come back a 9 months- year later, I don't see it being a factor (if nothing else happens).  

[frugalQ]

It will show up as an inquiry, but the impact on your credit will be minimal by next year. If you choose to buy earlier, the inquiry will not have a big impact on your scores.

I always think it's better to know where you stand...it's you know what you to work on to get where you want to be.

Being that you have the added complexity of the foreclosure, it is really best to get professional advice on any limitations you may have.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your responses.

[Lemmus]

...you don't have to go to a lender to get your mortgage scores ...you can buy EQ's ScorePower and get a legitimate FICO 04 model score w/o incurring a hard inquiry ...you can then compare your myFico EQ 08 score with it to get a fair estimate of the difference between the two score models ...my EQ 04 is higher but many others here find they are lower ...only way to know is to pull them ...hth

[frugalQ]

the only score you can get that's the same as the lender pull version is EQ Scorepower.   You can't buy the mortgage specific TU and EX FICO versions anywhere.  if the OP wants to know exactly where she and her hubby stands, she's better off getting official mortgage scores.