Here’s what you need to know when you have little or no money to put down on a home!
Source: 6 options for buying a home with little or no money down
Tag: first time buyer kentucky fico credit scores
Mortgage Borrowers Get Loan Approval With Lower Credit Scores in Kentucky
Recent studies suggest that home buyers with low credit scores and high debt-to-income ratios may have an easier time qualifying for financing.
Source: Mortgage Borrowers Get Loan Approval With Lower Credit
∘ What kind of credit score do I need to qualify for different first time home buyer loans in Kentucky?
Answer. Most lenders will wants a middle credit score of 620 to 640 for KY First Time Home Buyers looking to go no money down. The two most used no money down home loans in Kentucky being USDA Rural Housing and KHC with their down payment assistance will want a 620 to 640 middle score on their programs.
If you have access to 3.5% down payment, you can go FHA and secure a 30 year fixed rate mortgage with some lenders with a 580 credit score. Even though FHA on paper says they will go down to 500 credit score with at least 10% down payment, you will find it hard to get the loan approved because lenders will create overlays to protect their interest and maintain a good standing with FHA and HUD.
Another popular no money down loan is VA. Most VA lenders will want a 620 middle credit score but like FHA, VA on paper says they will go down to a 500 score, but good luck finding a lender for that scenario.
A lot of times if your scores are in the high 500’s or low 600’s range, we can do a rapid rescore and get your scores improved within 30 days.
Joel Lobb (NMLS#57916)
Senior Loan Officer
Senior Loan Officer
American Mortgage Solutions, Inc.
10602 Timberwood Circle Suite 3
Disclaimer: No statement on this site is a commitment to make a loan. Loans are subject to borrower qualifications, including income, property evaluation, sufficient equity in the home to meet Loan-to-Value requirements, and final credit approval. Approvals are subject to underwriting guidelines, interest rates, and program guidelines and are subject to change without notice based on applicant’s eligibility and market conditions. Refinancing an existing loan may result in total finance charges being higher over the life of a loan. Reduction in payments may reflect a longer loan term. Terms of any loan may be subject to payment of points and fees by the applicant Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS#57916 http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/
— Some products and services may not be available in all states. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. The content in this marketing advertisement has not been approved, reviewed, sponsored or endorsed by any department or government agency. Rates are subject to change and are subject to borrower(s) qualification.
What is the minimum credit score I need to qualify for a Kentucky FHA, VA, USDA and KHC Conventional mortgage loan in 2019?
Four things to know about qualifying and closing a mortgage loan for Kentucky First Time Home Buyers
Kentucky First Time Home Buyers Questions Answered Below:
1. Do Mortgage Interest Rates Change Daily?
Just like the gas prices at the pump, mortgage rates can change daily or throughout the day. Typically mortgage rates are published at 10-11 am daily by most lenders and you can lock up through the close of business which is usually around 6-7 PM. Mortgage rates can change up or down throughout the day based on various financial, economics, and geopolitical news in the US Financial markets and World markets. Generally speaking, good economic news is bad for rates and vice versa, bad economic news is good for mortgage rates.
The good news is this: Once you find a home and get it under contract, you can lock your mortgage loan rate. Typically it takes about 30-45 days to close a mortgage loan in Kentucky, so the typical lock is for 30-60 days. If rates get better you may be able to negotiate a better rate with your lender, but they usually have to improve by at least 25 basis points (.25) to do that. Not all lenders offer this option. The longer you lock the loan, the greater the costs. It is usually free to lock in a loan for up to 90 days without having to pay a fee.
What a lot of lenders are experiencing now is that some loans don’t close on time for various reasons. You can always extend the lock on the loan but it will costs you usually .125 basis points to do so. If you let the lock expire on the loan, then you have to take worse case pricing on that day when you go to relock. It is usually best to extend the lock on your loan.
2. What kind of Credit Score Do I need to qualify?
When applying for a mortgage loan, lenders will pull what they call a “tri-merge” credit report which will show three different fico scores from Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. The lenders will throw out the high and low score and take the “middle score” For example, if you had a 614, 610, and 629 score from the three main credit bureaus, your qualifying score would be 614. Most lenders will want at least two scores. So if you only have one score, you may not qualify. Lenders will have to pull their own credit report and scores so if you had it ran somewhere else or saw it on a website or credit card you may own, it will not matter to the lender, because they have to use their own credit report and scores.
Most lenders will pull your credit report for free nowadays so this should not be a big deal as long as your scores are high enough.
The Secondary Market of Mortgage loans offered by FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, and KHC all have their minimum fico score requirements and lenders will create overlays in addition to what the Government agencies will accept, so even if on paper FHA says they will go down to 580 or 500 in some cases on fico scores, very few lenders will go below the 620 threshold.
If you have low fico scores it may make sense to check around with different lenders to see what their minimum fico scores are for loans.
The lenders I currently deal with have the following fico cutoffs for credit scores:
FHA–580 minimum score
VA—-580 minimum score
Fannie Mae–620 minimum score
USDA–640 minimum score
KHC with Down Payment Assistance –620 minimum score.
As you can see, 620 is the minimum score with most lenders for a FHA, VA, or Fannie Mae loan, and 640 is required for the no down payment programs offered by USDA for Kentucky for First Time Home Buyers wanting to go no money down.
3. What are the down payment requirements?
The most popular programs for Kentucky First Time Home Buyers usually involves one of the following housing programs outlined in bold below:
FHA:
FHA will allow a home buyer to purchase a house with as little as 3.5% down. If your credit scores are low, say 680 and below, a lot of times it makes sense to go FHA because everyone pays the same mortgage insurance premiums no matter what your score is, and the down payment can be gifted to you. Meaning you really don’t have to have any skin into the game when it comes to down payment. They even allow down payment assistance through eligible parties (government grants or non-profits). Lastly, FHA will allow for higher debt to income ratios with sometimes getting loan pre-approvals up to 55% of your total gross monthly income.
Fannie Mae:
Fannie Mae requires just 3% down with their new Home Possible Program, but if you use their traditional mortgage loan, then 5% is the Fannie Mae Standard. Fannie Mae will o down to a 620 score, but if your scores are below 680, I would look seriously at the FHA loan program because Fannie Mae has steep increases to the interest rate and the mortgage insurance premiums if your scores are low.
A couple of good things about Fannie Mae is that you can buy a larger priced home and have a large loan amount due to FHA only allowing most Kentucky Home Buyers a maximum mortgage loan amount of $275-to $287k price range while Fannie Mae will go up to Conforming loan limits of $410k.
Lastly when it comes to mortgage insurance, FHA mortgage insurance premiums are for life of loan while Fannie Mae mortgage insurance premiums drop off when you develop 80% equity position in your house.
But as a tell most people, nobody has a loan for 30 years, and the average mortgage is either refinanced or home sold within the first 5-7 years.
VA Loans-
VA loans offer eligible Veterans and Active Duty Personnel to buy a home going no money down with no monthly mortgage insurance. This is probably the best no money down loan out there since the rates are traditionally very low on comparison to other government insured mortgages and no monthly mortgage insurance. The VA loan can be used anywhere in the state of Kentucky with the maximum VA loan limit being $417k
USDA Loans-
USDA loans offer people buying a home in rural areas (typically towns of $20k or less) to buy a home going zero down. You cannot currently own another home and there is household income limits of $75,000 for a household family of four, and up to $99,000 for a household of five or more. You search USDA website for eligible areas and household income limits below at the yellow highlighted link :
KHC or Kentucky Housing-
Kentucky First Time Home Buyers typically use KHC for their down payment assistance. KHC currently offers $4500 to $6000 for down payment assistance and sometimes throughout the year they will offer low mortgage rates on their mortgage revenue bond program. The down payment assistance usually never runs out because you have to pay it back in the form of a second mortgage. It helps a lot of home buyers that want to buy in urban areas that cannot utilizer the USDA program in rural areas. Most of the time the first mortgage is a FHA loan tied with the 2nd mortgage fore down payment assistance. All KHC programs require a 620 score and rates are locked for 45 days. Max income limits are usually set around $112k for a household with the max loan being $283,000 currently.
4. What if I have had a bankruptcy or foreclosure in the past?
FHA and VA are the easiest on previous bankruptcies. FHA and VA both require 2 years removed from the discharge date on a Chapter 7. If you are in the middle of a Chapter 13, FHA will allow for financing with a 12 month clean history payment to the Chapter 13 courts, and with trustee permission.
VA requires 2 years removed from a foreclosure (sheriff sale date of home) and FHA requires 3 years.
USDA requires 3 years removed from both a foreclosure and bankruptcy, but on the foreclosure they do not go off the sale date. This may save you a little time if you had a previous foreclosure.
Fannie Mae (Conventional Loan)
Fannie Mae is by far the strictest. They require 4-7 years out of a foreclosure or bankruptcy
If you have questions about qualifying as first time home buyer in Kentucky, please call, text, email or fill out free prequalification below for your next mortgage loan pre-approval.
The view and opinions stated on this website belong solely to the authors, and are intended for informational purposes only. The posted information does not guarantee approval, nor does it comprise full underwriting guidelines. This does not represent being part of a government agency. The views expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. Not all products or services mentioned on this site may fit all people
Kentucky Mortgage Loan Credit Score Requirement for 2019
What kind of credit score do I need to qualify for a Kentucky Mortgage Loan?
Credit scores play an important part in getting approved for a Kentucky Mortgage loan. Your credit scores consist of 3 digits and range anywhere from the low-end of 300 to a high score of 800 range on the top-end. Most borrowers are going to fall in the 500, 600, 700 range, with a few in the 300 and 800 ranges. The higher the score the better it is for chances of getting approved for a Kentucky Mortgage loan and getting better terms as far as rates, closing costs and mortgage insurance.
There are three main credit bureaus in the United States that lenders will pull from Experian, Equifax, Transunion. Most loan programs will take your middle score. So For example, if you have 629 on transunion, 690 on equifax, and 577 on Experian, your middle credit score would be 629.
The credit score that mortgage lenders use is the fico score. They’re different credit scoring models out there, so keep that in mind, that even though you may get your credit score from Credit Karma or Credit Sesame, this is not your true fico scores that lenders use in Kentucky to approve you for a mortgage loan.
Vantage Score ranges vary depending on the version the bureau is using. Earlier versions offer a range of 501 to 990 whereas a newer version would range from 300 to 850.
Credit bureaus will often provide scores within several different scoring models, which can cause you to have two different scores issued by a single bureau at one time. This can be confusing if you do not understand where the score is coming from, who it is being provided to, and why. If you go to get a credit card and then go to buy a car, those two places of business from whom you are seeking credit will likely be looking at different scoring models and therefore would each likely be looking at a different score by which they would determine your creditworthiness.
Credit Score vs Credit Karma: what’s the difference?
Different Kentucky Home Loan Programs require different credit score requirements. I will discuss each below:
- Kentucky FHA Mortgage loan credit score requirements:
- The minimum credit score is 500 for Kentucky FHA loans. However please keep in mind these two things: 1. Lenders credit their own overlays to increase the credit score threshold, most being 620, and secondly, if your credit score is below 580, you would need 10% minimum down payment, and if the credit score is over 580, then you can go with the minimum 3.5% down payment.
- Obviously if you have a higher credit score, this will increase your chances of getting approved for a Kentucky FHA Mortgage and possibly better rates and closing costs options.
- Kentucky VA Mortgage loans requirements :
- VA does not have a minimum credit score requirement, but if the credit score is below 620 few lenders will do the loan, but I am set up with several Kentucky VA lenders where I have closed them down to a 560 credit score, but the borrower had good compensating factors such as: large down payment, low dti ratios, good job history and good residual income with no previous bankruptcies or foreclosures.
- I would suggest if your credit scores are below 580, I would suggest on working on getting the scores up before you applied for a VA mortgage loan.
- A lot of lenders will do a rapid rescore which in some cases can increase your credit scores in as little as 7-10 working days.
- The federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guarantees loans for current and former members of the military and their families. VA loans provide very favorable terms to eligible borrowers and have limited qualifying requirements. You can get a VA loan with no down payment so long as the home isn’t worth more than you pay for it, and there’s no minimum credit score to qualify. You also don’t have to pay for mortgage insurance, although you do have to pay an up-front funding fee of of between .5% and 3.3% of the loan amount unless you fall within an exception for disabled vets or military widows or widowers.
- Kentucky USDA Mortgage credit score requirements:
- According to their guidelines, USDA will go down to a 580 credit score, but most lenders will want a 640 credit score. USDA uses an online system to underwrite the risk of the loan, and scores under 640 are very difficult to get approved.
- Validating the Credit Score. Two or more eligible tradelines are necessary to validate an applicant’s credit report score. Eligible tradelines consist of credit accounts (revolving, installment etc.) with at least 12 months of repayment history reported on the credit report. At least one applicant whose income or assets are used for qualification must have a valid credit report score
- The Rural Housing Service (RHS) operates under the federal Department of Agriculture to guarantee loans for rural home-buyers with limited income who can’t obtain conventional financing. The upside is that Kentucky USDA loans require no down payment. The downside is that they charge a steep up-front fee of 1% of the loan amount (which can be paid off over the entire loan term) and an annual fee of 0.35%.
- Credit score over 680: Perform a basic level of underwriting to confirm the applicant has an acceptable credit reputation. Perform additional analysis if the applicant’s credit history has indicators of unacceptable credit as noted in Paragraph 10.7 of this Chapter.
- Credit score 679 to 640: Perform a comprehensive level of underwriting. Underwrite all aspects of the applicant’s credit history to establish the applicant has an acceptable credit reputation. Credit scores in this range indicate the applicant’s reputation is uncertain and will require a thorough analysis by the underwriter of the credit to draw a logical conclusion about the applicant’s commitment to making payments on the new mortgage obligation. The applicant’s credit history should demonstrate his or her past willingness and ability to meet credit obligations.
- Credit score less than 640: Perform a cautious level of underwriting. Perform a detailed review of all aspects of the applicant’s credit history to establish the applicant’s willingness to repay and ability to manage obligations as agreed. Unless there are extenuating circumstances documented in accordance with this Chapter, a credit score in this range is generally viewed as a strong indication that the applicant does not have an acceptable credit reputation.
- Little or no credit history: The lack of credit history on the credit report may be mitigated if the applicant can document a willingness to pay recurring debts through other acceptable means such as third party verifications or cancelled checks. Due to impartiality issues, third party verifications from relatives of household members are not permissible. Lenders can develop a Non-Traditional Credit Report for applicants who do not have a credit score in accordance with Paragraph 10.6 of this Chapter
Kentucky Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conventional Credit Score Requirements
These are considered “conventional loans’ that can be often be obtained with a 3% to 5% down payment. Of course, there are higher standards for conventional home financing. The most common minimum credit score requirement to get approved today is a 620 FICO. This type of score is typical for people that have high credit card balances or a few delinquent payments in their past. The general consensus on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loans in Kentucky is that a 620 score is the entry-point to qualify, but you will need a thorough documentation of income with credit scores in the 620 to 640 range. You will have a better shot to be approved for a mortgage backed by Fannie or Freddie with a 680-credit score and less strenuous underwriting.
- Competitive Mortgage Rates and Fees
- Monthly Mortgage Insurance Is Not Always Required
- Ideal for First Time Home Buyers with Good Credit
