ready for a first-time mortgage??

[Anonymous]

I am looking to purchase my first home around May/June of 2009 and live in charlotte, nc.  I have good credit scores, all above 750; debt includes a monthly car payment of $550, student loan $180, no CC debt.  My yearly gross income is about $50,000, but I have only been employed for a little over a year as a registered nurse; by the time I actually apply for a loan I will have been employed for a year and a half.  Will this affect getting approval for a loan? I am hoping to apply for an FHA loan and currently have atleast $5,000 to put down and expect to have more by the time I look for something. Should I get pre-approved for a loan now to see what I am eligible for?  Do I have to specifically apply for FHA loan pre-approval?  What should I be doing first to better my chances at a low apr rate and approval?  My fiance's finances are as follows: credit scores between 580 and 620, self-employed for 7 years, average gross annual income of around $40,000 to $50,000; debt: car payment $300 (but he will looking for a new work vehicle in the next couple months as well which will add another car payment) and credit loan $150.  Would it be a good idea to pre-apply with him?  Or should I apply  myself?  Should I just wait a little more and see where his scores are in the next couple of months first?  Not even sure if we should include him on the loan at all??  Does a pre-approval affect your credit score?  According to a couple of online calculators, the most home I could afford on my income is $80,000--We are hoping to purchase a home between $150-$170K.  Is
this realistic?  Any expert advice/comments are appreciated!!

[teton]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 According to a couple of online calculators, the most home I could afford on my income is $80,000--We are hoping to purchase a home between $150-$170K.  Is
this realistic?  Any expert advice/comments are appreciated!!

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Your numbers are very similar to mine and the most I can get approved for is about $89k. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

[BrianB_The_Loan_Professor]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am looking to purchase my first home around May/June of 2009 and live in charlotte, nc.  I have good credit scores, all above 750; debt includes a monthly car payment of $550, student loan $180, no CC debt.  My yearly gross income is about $50,000, but I have only been employed for a little over a year as a registered nurse; by the time I actually apply for a loan I will have been employed for a year and a half.  Will this affect getting approval for a loan? I am hoping to apply for an FHA loan and currently have atleast $5,000 to put down and expect to have more by the time I look for something. Should I get pre-approved for a loan now to see what I am eligible for?  Do I have to specifically apply for FHA loan pre-approval?  What should I be doing first to better my chances at a low apr rate and approval?  My fiance's finances are as follows: credit scores between 580 and 620, self-employed for 7 years, average gross annual income of around $40,000 to $50,000; debt: car payment $300 (but he will looking for a new work vehicle in the next couple months as well which will add another car payment) and credit loan $150.  Would it be a good idea to pre-apply with him?  Or should I apply  myself?  Should I just wait a little more and see where his scores are in the next couple of months first?  Not even sure if we should include him on the loan at all??  Does a pre-approval affect your credit score?  According to a couple of online calculators, the most home I could afford on my income is $80,000--We are hoping to purchase a home between $150-$170K.  Is
this realistic?  Any expert advice/comments are appreciated!!

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Welcome to the Forum

Obviously if he can get approved with you you will qualify for more home

Normally FHA wants 2 years employment BUT they will also count your schooling so you should be fine there.

The minimum down payment will be 3.5% so I would work on two things - 1) eliminate Debt

2) Save money

Hard to do both but come up with a plan for what you can pay off and how much you can save then stick to it.

Good Luck

Brian

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

What did you do before you became an RN?  Were you in school for it?

Pre-approvals are good for 120 days and then credit needs to be re-checked, so if you want to preliminarily see what you could be approved for you can go through the process now.  Shouldn't be difficult or time consuming, but figure that if you aren't going to make an offer in 90 days your credit will need to be re-checked and that could change what you could qualify for (for the better or worse).  When you do apply you could ask for an FHA loan, but the loan officer would know what program you would best fit in (appears to be FHA until you can come up with 5% or more down).  A pre-approval does check your credit, so that impacts your credit score, but there isn't anything else getting a pre-approval directly does to your credit.

You don't want to apply for an FHA loan with your fiance until your fiance's mid score is at least a 620, as below a 620 gets higher interest rate for FHA.  Your income appers to be OK for a $170k sales price in good ol' Mecklenburg County, your debt to income ratio is a little on the high side, but with your great credit scores, and if you are able to save up about $2,500 in addition to your down payment (3.5% like Brian pointed out) then you should be fine.  Online "how much can I qualify for" calculators are rarely accurate.  Nothing substitutes talking your situation over with a mortgage professional.  Conventional financing you need a 700, 720 or 740 score for the best rates (depending on how much you are putting down), so until your fiance is at one of those levels I'd avoid putting him on if you can help it.