Wouldn’t it be nice to have new appliances, such as a new refrigerator or washer and dryer, the day you move into your new home?  Here’s the problem… If you add to your current credit card balances or open a new account (such as Lowe’s or Home Depot) between the time you apply for your home loan and prior to funding on your new loan, you may not close on time or even at all.  Most of us who have been in the mortgage business awhile have had loans bust ...

We get this question just about every day:  What credit score do I need to buy a house?  Minimum credit scores can and do vary by lender, but here’s our current minimum credit score requirements for all of our major loan programs:

Conventional Purchase = 620
Conventional Refinance = 620
FHA Purchase = 620
FHA Refinance = 640
FHA Reverse Mortgage = None
Texas Vet Purchase = 620
USDA Purchase = 620
VA Purchase = 620
VA Refinance = 640

The latest “deal killer” in the mortgage business is disputed tradelines on your credit report. Even if something on your credit report is clearly not yours or being reported in error, if you dispute it, you may not be able to get a home loan. (I agree, that’s ridiculous!)  There are some exceptions, as there are with most things in our world, but play it safe and don’t dispute anything immediately before or during the home loan process. If your credit score is too low to qualify and it’s due to issues that you have ...

If you have a bankruptcy in the past, it’s not as bad as you might think. When it comes to VA financing, you need just two years since the discharge of your Chapter 7 bankruptcy before applying for your VA loan. (Conventional loans typically require 4 or more years, so VA is pretty lenient.) The important thing to keep in mind is that you also have to have a clean track record since the bankruptcy. No late payments, no past due balances, and no collections. You also have to show that you have re-established credit since the ...

We are now offering the Texas Vet Housing Assistance Program down to a credit score of 620.   For awhile there, our minimum was 640 for Texas Vet, but now it is 620, opening up more opportunities for Texas Veterans.  (Don’t ask USAA or Navy Federal for this program, they don’t even offer it!)  Apply here for pre-approval if you are interested in saving big bucks with this program.

The vast majority of the time, lenders will not allow you to pay off credit card debt to qualify for a home loan if the debt is still on your credit report when the first report is pulled for your home loan pre-approval.You are usually allowed to pay off installment debts,such as car loans, in order to remove them from your monthly obligations, but not revolving debts, such as credit cards. An exception may be made if you can prove you paid off a debt prior to the credit report, ...