First, I'll say this: When you go to get your mortgage CAST YOUR NET FAR AND WIDE!
Remember, one lender said I could only do FHA at much higher rates with the MIP issues costing more. One lender said I didn't qualify for PMI even with 15% down, no debt, great salary. One lender said they would only consider 25% of our salary as usable when writing the loan (at that time we had more than that amounbt IN THE BANK!!). My amateur conclusion: underwriters don't always know what they're doing. They have software products to crunch numbers (Desktop Underwriter for Fannie Mae, Loan ?Prospector? for Freddie Mac), and at this point I think it all boils down to finding an underwriter who knows how to manipulate the software to get the right result. Why else did I get such varied answers from underwriters? Kind of like having an accountant who knows the tax code best, and can make the numbers work for you. NOT IN AN ILLEGAL OR UNETHICAL WAY, mind you, but somebody with experience enough to navigate the complexity of everything.
All we did was get two credit cards, use them very little, pay them every month, a couple of those CD loan I mentioned before (all with 90 day terms so very short), and a car loan we paid off in about 14 months. Student loans also helped raise our score because they are monthly payments. Having a higher down payment for the loan makes a difference.
Last bit of advice: I'm sure our credit score would have been even higher, but I didn't realize a judgement had not been removed from our report. It is not listed under "Accounts," which is all I ever checked, but under "Public Record," so I missed it until the lending agents told me it was there. Also, within the last year Crapital One and Skank of America have slipped in three accounts that were dismissed. For info on this, please see:
and
show notes from Nov 6, 2007.
Keep up with who is slipping old stuff on your credit report!!
I have to go now!!
Remember, one lender said I could only do FHA at much higher rates with the MIP issues costing more. One lender said I didn't qualify for PMI even with 15% down, no debt, great salary. One lender said they would only consider 25% of our salary as usable when writing the loan (at that time we had more than that amounbt IN THE BANK!!). My amateur conclusion: underwriters don't always know what they're doing. They have software products to crunch numbers (Desktop Underwriter for Fannie Mae, Loan ?Prospector? for Freddie Mac), and at this point I think it all boils down to finding an underwriter who knows how to manipulate the software to get the right result. Why else did I get such varied answers from underwriters? Kind of like having an accountant who knows the tax code best, and can make the numbers work for you. NOT IN AN ILLEGAL OR UNETHICAL WAY, mind you, but somebody with experience enough to navigate the complexity of everything.
All we did was get two credit cards, use them very little, pay them every month, a couple of those CD loan I mentioned before (all with 90 day terms so very short), and a car loan we paid off in about 14 months. Student loans also helped raise our score because they are monthly payments. Having a higher down payment for the loan makes a difference.
Last bit of advice: I'm sure our credit score would have been even higher, but I didn't realize a judgement had not been removed from our report. It is not listed under "Accounts," which is all I ever checked, but under "Public Record," so I missed it until the lending agents told me it was there. Also, within the last year Crapital One and Skank of America have slipped in three accounts that were dismissed. For info on this, please see:
and
show notes from Nov 6, 2007.
Keep up with who is slipping old stuff on your credit report!!
I have to go now!!
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