November 27th, 2009
Purchasing a Home vs. a Low Credit Score
Have you ever considered what a lender thinks when he or she reviews a credit report in relation to approving or denying a mortgage application? Well, the most common answers would be: What is their credit score? How is their credit history? What is their income? What is their debt to income ratio? Will they be providing a substantial down payment?
A huge down payment may dilute the negative effects of a spotty payment history or low credit score. However, be prepared for high fees and mortgage interest. In fact, the minimum score needed to purchase a home has increased in the past 12-18 months.
There is no way around having a low credit score. Even with a large down payment you will still need a good credit score to make home ownership a reality. Your goal should be a 758 average credit score to qualify for the lowest interest rates, according to CNN.com.
Raise Your Credit Score to the Minimum Necessary for a Mortgage
With minimal effort you can obtain your report and see exactly what is there. Often there will be mistakes or errors that you can dispute.
You can start with a dispute letter to the credit bureau(s). Otherwise, you will have to work directly with the creditor to resolve the mistake.
Sometimes a cleverly crafted dispute letter will result in the removal of the negative entry. However, it is often the case that investigative procedures are careless and result in errors.
The reason for this is, when investigating any dispute, credit bureaus must necessarily spend additional resources and time to resolve the matter. Unfortunately, some credit bureaus feel it is more cost effective to take their time or ignore the matter altogether. It is their desire that you give up on your request to remove negative entries from your credit report.
How Long Will I Have to Wait to See an Improvement in My Credit Score?
Often people want to know how long it will take to see an improvment in their credit score. This answer, of course, is dependent upon the individual situation, however, in many cases, an improvement may be seen by 6-12 months.
This may seem like a long time; however, it is certainly a shorter amount of time than waiting 7-10 years for the negative entries to be deleted. Also, if you want to purchase a home, it is wise to wait the 6-12 months to improve your credit report.
We raised our credit scores from the upper 500 range to 745 and 763 in under six months and got approved for our dream home. Discover the one rule you must obey in credit repair by seeing proof at www.creditforcouples.com and get the real truth about lexington credit repair.