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Showing posts from December, 2005

Prevent Your FICO From Becoming a Fido!

Online Mortgage Shopping Impacts FICO Scores If you've considered checking out an online mortgage site: think again. What they don't tell you is that their network may comprise multiple agents. Each may pull your credit report (separately) over a course of hours or days while they review your loan options. While all this is going on, your FICO score is taking a nosedive. Each mortgage inquiry can negatively impact your score 3 points. Each time. So if 10 brokers pull your credit in one 90 day period you could be 30 points worse off. And here's the scary part: each of those 10 brokers could actually submit your application to another 10 banks who also check your credit and that little exercise just cost you 30 points per broker...so the potential for damage is exponential. Because banks and lenders have strict FICO score requirements, a lower FICO Score can affect your qualifying for the loan you want. So much for convenience... What is a FICO Score? Invited by the Fai

Get Mortgage Ready!

First Time Homebuyers may qualify for Government Subsidized Mortgages through FHA (Federal Housing Authority), VA (Veterans Administration), Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. And that's not all! Criteria If you are like most people considering buying your first home, you may have been renting or living at school or with relatives so prooving your 'mortgage readiness' is your first step. And if you haven't owned a home in 5 years, you could still qualify for a FTHB loan because these organizations are mandated to increase personal home ownership. Free First Time Homebuyer Classes You may see newspaper notices about these classes, often held at public libraries or the office of a large mortgage lender. They are free and usually take a day or 2 evenings to complete. Keep the certificate you receive as proof because some lenders may give you a discount on your interest rate. The information is very helpful...so do take the course to help prepare yourself for the homebuying