People with great credit typically have no problems at all qualifying for great mortgages, whereas people with bad or fair credit often have more challenges qualifying for a loan. If your credit is not the greatest but you want to buy a home, here are some tips to help you achieve this goal.
Fix your credit as much as possible before you apply
If there are any quick ways to improve your credit right now, you should do them. For example, if you have a way to pay off a large debt you owe, paying it off may cause your credit score to increase significantly. If you have something inaccurate on your credit report that you could dispute, you should dispute it to get it removed. Improving your credit score by 10 or 20 points might make a big enough difference to help you qualify for a better type of loan. You can always talk to your mortgage lender to find out how much you would need to improve your score in order to make it easier for you to get a decent loan.
Buy a more affordable house to make the loan more affordable
Secondly, you may want to settle for buying a house that is cheaper than what you really would like to buy. It will be easier for you to qualify to buy a $150,000 house than to buy a $200,000 house. Additionally, you may want to look into foreclosures or fixer-upper homes, as you might be able to inherit equity in the home right from the start.
Plan to refinance the loan in a few years
With poor credit, qualifying for a great loan may be hard; however, you do not have to keep the loan you get forever. A lot of people with bad credit will go through with getting loans while they have bad credit, but they will plan to refinance these loans in three to five years. During this time, these individuals will work on rebuilding their credit scores so that they will be able to qualify for lower interest rates and better loans when they are ready to refinance.
These are some tips that will help you get a loan to buy a house, even if your credit is not the best right now. If you are ready to apply for a mortgage loan, contact a lender to find out what steps you must take to apply.