Thread: Mortgage Calculators Affect Credit Score?

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Anyways, my question is, if I use a site like LendingTree.com enter my info (SSN included) in the next week or so, when I go to actually get my loan in a year or two, will they (a) see this and (b) care enough for it to effect how much and at what rate they give me? I have been told that the more you pry into your credit rating the more suspicious it looks to lenders hindering your chances of getting approved...

(a) Yes, they will. Credit lookup stays on your record almost as long as a credit action (borrowing, repayment, default, late payment, reposession, etc.).
(b) You are correct that multiple credit checks will adversely affect your credit. However, getting a baseline now for the purposes of buying a house in two years is probably not going to hurt you much, if at all.

So how do you research what you can get, without hurting your chances for getting that when you are ready?

Get a copy of your credit report, whether it's through a lending institution, a credt counseling or repair organization or something like freecreditreport.com.
Another option is to apply for a credit card and get denied. Based on the credit denial you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report.
granted, if your credit is good, then it's probably harder to NOT get an approvaly than it would be to get an approval.

That's really not a bad situation to be in.

better watch out i hear canadian women can drink more than us U.S. men hehe. I wouldnt want you to get drunk and taken advantage of.

For your first home please do not go for 300k unless you make at least 1/3+ of that a year. I agree with what DP said and you can go to the site he mentioned and get a free one for yourself or equifax.com. If you are interested on what loan amount you are able to get, then I would call a mortgage lender (or pm me ) ask if they can work with a copy of your credit report or if they will pull it for you.

I say move to canadia and right next door to kev and throw rocks on his patio oooo or maybe a flaming bag o poo. Then again WTF! why would you move from colorado? hell i may be moving there someday.

Federal Law states you are entitled to a free credit report each year from each of the big 3 credit companies. This is so you can review it for discrepancies and correct anything that is inaccurate. See this site for details. It's your responsibility to keep their data clean.

Each of the Big 3:
Experian
Equifax
TransUnion

Also, carrying a balance is not a bad thing. If you pay 100% everytime, what does that say about your ability to manage debt? You will see your credit rating go up faster if you carry a balance, even a small one. I'm not saying go hog wild and max out all of your cards, but maybe pay each one off every other month so you always have some credit extended somewhere.

Originally Posted by jjh221

For your first home please do not go for 300k unless you make at least 1/3+ of that a year.

Just in case your interested... Southern California right now is a buyers market. And probably also for the next 2-3 years.

I'm also looking to move out soon and maybe buy a place with my best friend.

A place that was $235k about 4-5 months ago is now +/- $200k



That's in San Diego though.... but then again... where is there a nicer place to live in the states...?

Rafster

Originally Posted by Rafster

Just in case your interested... Southern California right now is a buyers market. And probably also for the next 2-3 years.

I'm also looking to move out soon and maybe buy a place with my best friend.

A place that was $235k about 4-5 months ago is now +/- $200k



That's in San Diego though.... but then again... where is there a nicer place to live in the states...?

Rafster

San Diego is a beautiful place (minus the fires) but for the price you pay in CA you can get a house 3 times the size in other states.

Originally Posted by walstib

Federal Law states you are entitled to a free credit report each year from each of the big 3 credit companies. This is so you can review it for discrepancies and correct anything that is inaccurate. See this site for details. It's your responsibility to keep their data clean.

Each of the Big 3:
Experian
Equifax
TransUnion

Also, carrying a balance is not a bad thing. If you pay 100% everytime, what does that say about your ability to manage debt? You will see your credit rating go up faster if you carry a balance, even a small one. I'm not saying go hog wild and max out all of your cards, but maybe pay each one off every other month so you always have some credit extended somewhere.

FreeCreditReport.com is Experian correct? I think I used them once at the beginning of 2007 and my score was low 700's. Not bad for only having 1 credit card and for just over a year.

Originally Posted by jjh221

better watch out i hear canadian women can drink more than us U.S. men hehe. I wouldnt want you to get drunk and taken advantage of.

indeed

Originally Posted by jjh221

For your first home please do not go for 300k unless you make at least 1/3+ of that a year.

Well I figure 300k at 30yrs is going to be around. Going off of Remax's calculator, 300k at 6.25% for 30yrs is $1600 a month. Then utilities and such probably $2500 a month max? So $30k a year just for that. Starting positions for my career are usually pretty high. But I am not going to buy a house I cannot afford for sure! I need to really get research down for this stuff.

Originally Posted by jjh221

If you are interested on what loan amount you are able to get, then I would call a mortgage lender (or pm me ) ask if they can work with a copy of your credit report or if they will pull it for you.

Is that what you actually do? I would never have guessed!

Originally Posted by jjh221

I say move to canadia and right next door to kev and throw rocks on his patio oooo or maybe a flaming bag o poo. Then again WTF! why would you move from colorado? hell i may be moving there someday.

Trade ya.

family does

<---writes mortgage underwriting software

seriously, dude. Your credit score now will have ZERO to do with your ability to get a mortgage later. What you qualify for now will have ZERO to do with what you will quailify for in 2 years.

To get what you are asking for, which is direct quotes, you will have to supply things like...your income! I assume that since you are in college working 2 part time jobs, you're not exactly making middle-class income. So right now, you would likely only qualify for a sub-prime mortgage (low income, short credit history, young). And what have we learned from the news about sub-prime mortages? They are given to people who shouldnt buy houses!

So really, just hit up bankrate.com, look at the average current rage, and do calculations off of that. Anything further than that and you are just wasting brokers' time and they will NOT work with you again.

General rules: 30 year FIXED, 20% down, payment no more than 25% of your take home pay. And you cant just go out and borrow the 20%, that doesnt count because the banks will ask you where you got the money.