Denver Home Buyers with Not So Perfect Credit

If you haven’t been so good about paying your bills on
time, or if you just haven’t established a credit record, you need not give up
on being able to buy a home.  Thanks to many innovative programs and
changes in lending guidelines, it is very possible that as long as you have a
reliable source of income, you can probably buy a home.

Do you have steady income?

As long as you have steady income, there are lenders
who will help you buy a home, even if you are “credit challenged”. 
Mortgage lenders are under pressure to keep up their  loan origination
volume, especially to borrowers without traditional verifiable income
sources.  Virtually every mortgage lender has a special home loan program
for borrowers with credit problems.  The interest rate offered will rarely
be the lowest in the market, but mortgage money is readily available.

What is your credit score?

It is important that you know what is in your credit
report and what your credit scores are.  The easiest source for obtaining
this information is at www.myfico.com.  For a small fee, you get your
credit report, your credit score, and suggestions on how to improve your FICO
score.  Mortgage lenders will use these scores to determine which programs
and interest rates you qualify for; the higher your score, the lower the rate
you should be offered.  Thanks to a new federal law, all U.S. residents are entitled
to one free credit report annually from each of the three national credit
bureaus.  Take advantage of this service by obtaining your reports, reading
them carefully, and taking the steps necessary to correct any errors.

Get pre-approved in writing.

After you check your credit report and FICO score, and
before you start house-hunting, you should apply for a home loan.  Don’t
confuse a pre-qualification with a pre-approval.  A pre-qualification means that based solely
on the verbal information you gave the loan officer/broker, you should be able
to obtain financing for up to a certain amount.  A pre-approval means that the loan
officer/broker has taken the information you’ve given them, verified it, and
have a lender willing to make your loan, subject to reasonable terms (such as a
satisfactory appraisal).

So even if you have less than perfect credit, one way
or another, you can probably buy a house or condo.  Your first “starter
home” probably won’t be your “dream home”.  But it will start you on the
road to building home equity rather than constructing a pile of worthless rent
receipts.

If you would like to get pre-approved for a home loan
please call me at 303-696-6933.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.