Articles Tagged With: Credit Requirements

March 25, 2021

Uses For An FHA Cash-Out Refinance Loan

If you are thinking about applying for a cash-out refinance loan, you likely have some ideas about what you want to use the money for. FHA Cash-Out refinance loans allow the homeowner to convert equity built up in the home and take it out in cash. The amount of cash back is determined once the original loan and the closing costs of the new loan have been dealt paid. How to use the money? Some want an FHA cash-out refi to do home improvements with no restrictions on how the cash gets used. These loans don’t have the same restrictions on how the funds are used when you compare them to the FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation loan which allows a refinance and improvements to be made using loan funds. But | more...

March 15, 2021

Getting Credit Approved For A Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

A lot of people don’t know how to approach a home loan–what does the average borrower need to know about your lender’s credit approval for a home loan? The things you should know that will help you understand the home loan process better have a lot to do with what the lender is required to do in order to declare you a good credit risk. For some future home owners, getting to “yes” for a home loan seems like a mystery; take some of the guesswork out of the home loan process by learning a few things about what the lender is required to do with your financial information. The first thing to know about getting a home loan approved? Perfect credit is NOT to be considered for an FHA | more...

September 24, 2020

Is Your Credit Report Hurting Your Chances At Loan Approval?

By Joe Wallace

American consumers are entitled by law to a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. This is a valuable resource all potential home loan applicants should take advantage of as early as possible in the home loan planning stages. However, this is only a first step into a larger world. Credit monitoring is, in the age of hackers and rampant identity theft, a necessity for borrowers who want to make certain their credit will be enough to justify home loan approval. And credit monitoring is not the sort of thing you want to start late in the game–you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to review your credit and work on it during the planning stages. How long should that planning be? Your home loan | more...

July 10, 2020

FHA Cash-Out Refinance Loans: What You Need To Know Today

By Joe Wallace

Are you looking at the current low mortgage loan interest rates and wondering about your cash-out refinance loan options? If you are a homeowner looking for an FHA cash-out loan, you should know that you don’t have to have an existing FHA mortgage to refinance a loan with an FHA cash-out loan. No matter which type of home loan you are looking to refinance, there are rules and requirements you should know–some refinance loan options are better than others depending on the purpose of your loan. Rehab And Refinance For example, some borrowers want to rehab a home while refinancing it–there is a separate FHA refi loan for that purpose, though the loan proceeds from the FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Refinance loan can only be used for approved purposes where cash-out | more...

June 9, 2020

Does Credit Monitoring Hurt Your FICO Score?

By Bruce Reichstein

Credit monitoring is an important service. Many borrowers don’t know what their FICO scores are when first starting out, and it is easy to be surprised by outdated or erroneous information on your credit file if you don’t look at it frequently enough. Do you know what your credit reports say about you? Your credit activity including the most recent events can sometimes make or break a credit application. Too many recent applications for credit is one problem, another may be too much of the wrong kind of credit (junk credit cards, payday loans, etc.) The reason for credit monitoring has a lot to do with protecting your identity from fraudsters and thieves, but many people have never even seen a credit report, let alone understand what is in them. | more...

June 8, 2020

Do You Know How To Dispute Your Credit Reports?

By Joe Wallace

Do you know what it takes to dispute a problem on your credit reports? If you don’t know the contents of your credit report, or how to dispute your report, you may encounter trouble at loan application time. Are you a potential home loan applicant in planning stages of your home loan? It is very important to look at your credit reports and review the contents. If you have never seen your credit report before, you are not ready to fill out a home loan application. Review Your Credit Reports Now Disputing your report doesn’t happen overnight–you need time to dispute inaccurate or outdated information that may be on your credit report. And entries in your credit file that point to you being a victim of identity theft? That can | more...

June 2, 2020

Credit Reports and Accuracy In Credit Reporting For Your Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

Do you know what your credit report says about you right now? If not, you aren’t truly prepared for your home loan application and may learn the hard way about issues on your credit report including identity theft, reporting errors, etc. If you have not looked at your credit reports, you should not fill out loan paperwork; there are many issues that can affect your mortgage loan application and they are directly related to the contents found in your credit file. Three Credit Reporting Agencies, Three Separate Credit Reports Don’t assume you can just pull a single credit report–consider what all three of the major credit reporting agencies have in their files in your name. These agencies do not share information, which makes it more important for you, the future | more...

April 29, 2020

Protect Your Credit With Free Weekly Credit Reports Until 2021

By Joe Wallace

COVID-19 has created an economic situation that has forced millions into unemployment, and literally millions of home loans are now in forbearance. Those who act to protect their home loans early have the most options, but even for those late to the process, catching up on home loan payments, cutting back on new credit use, and other measures can help soften the economic blow in the long run. Coronavirus outbreak containment measures, while absolutely necessary, have put a massive strain on the economy. Now, more than ever, knowing your credit report is essential, especially if you have plans to buy a home in the near to mid-term future. Credit will likely be harder to come by in the coming months. borrowers who understand the importance of this will be pulling | more...

April 7, 2020

Protect Your Credit Score During The Coronavirus Outbreak

By Bruce Reichstein

The economic effects of the coronavirus / COVID-19 are being felt in every sector of the American economy, including the real estate market and the housing industry. With trillions of dollars in economic stimulus promised, but in various stages of delivery (or non-delivery as the case may be), Americans are still facing economic pain that may not have a short-term fix. In spite of that uncertainty, one thing remains clear. Consumer credit scores are going to have a lot more weight in the credit approval decision process in the days following the peak of the coronavirus emergency in America. It’s going to take time to begin a full move toward recovering from the crisis, but those who take steps now (and later) to protect their credit will fare better than | more...

February 20, 2020

FHA Home Loans For Borrowers With Thin Credit

By Bruce Reichstein

Some borrowers worry their FICO scores aren’t high enough to be approved for a home loan. Other borrowers worry that they don’t have a long enough credit history. There are ways you can raise your FICO score, increase your credit file, and make yourself a better credit risk for an FHA home loan, FHA rehab loan, or even a construction loan to build your own house on your own lot. If you apply for a home loan with thin credit non-traditional credit or no credit, your lender will ask for any evidence you have made recurring payments of some kind. That’s a good place to start when it’s time to review your credit. Your lender will want to see that for any financial obligation you do carry, that on-time payments | more...