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1. Poor Credit Will Put More Weight On Your Employment History & Salary - When you are putting less money down and have credit problems, this will cause the lender to look more heavily at the stability of your employment history and income. If your debt-to-income ratio is low and you have been at your job for more than one year, this will help you toward getting 100% financing.
2. Lenders Will Look Closely at Your Most Recent Payment History - Many people have had financial difficulties in your past, but one of the most telling things for a lender, is what your most recent payment history has been like. If you have a bankruptcy that is more than a few years old, but over the last few years have made regular, on-time payments on all of your existing bills, you are more likely to get approved for 100% financing.
3. Consider Having The Home Seller Pay The Closing Costs - If, with poor credit, you are able to get 100% financing, it will probably be quite a stretch to have the lender also wrap the loan closing costs up in the mortgage loan as well. When you make your offer on your new home, consider including in your offer that the seller pay all of the loan closing costs. This is a common practice, and it is highly likely that the seller will agree.
Try pulling a copy of your own credit report to see how bad your credit really is. Make sure you have disputed all inaccuracies on your credit report before you allow a mortgage lender to pull your credit. If possible, pay down as many high balance revolving credit accounts as possible. This can help increase your credit score significantly.
Qualifying for a sub-prime mortgage loan with a foreclosure or bankruptcy in your credit past is just a matter of finding the right lender. As long as you have a regular source of income, you can qualify for a mortgage. The real issue is about qualifying for low rates. But there are ways to improve your mortgage application.
Ways To Help Your Mortgage Application
A foreclosure or bankruptcy primarily affects your credit for the first two years after a discharge. While they will remain on your record for seven to ten years, they will cease to have a significant impact on your ability to qualify for now rates. Instead lenders look at your most recent payment habits and debt ratio.
Besides waiting for your credit score to improve, you can make your mortgage qualifications look more favorable by increasing your down payment. By building equity into the property, lenders reduce your risk score and rates. Remember too that you can access this equity at any time with a home equity loan or line of credit.
Other ways to improve your qualifications are to pay off debt, liquidate investments so you have cash reserves, and close unused credit accounts.
Your Lender Makes A Difference
While you can improve your home loan application, one important way to reduce your loan costs is to find a competitive lender. With rates varying a point or more between sub-prime lenders, time spent researching loan quotes will save you money.
Nearly every lender deals with some kind of sub-prime loans, so include traditional lenders in your search. To use your time most efficiently, ask for loan quotes on the particular loan amount and terms you want. With these relevant numbers, you can determine which company has the lowest costing loan for your particular situation.
Sub-prime loan rates are usually 1-2% higher for every fifty points below 650. It's important though to also look at closing costs when comparing sub-prime financing. Often a good looking rate can be a more expensive loan because of high upfront fees. Protect yourself by carefully reading the details of each loan quote you receive.