Loans, Insurance & credit card information

When you apply for a home equity loan, lenders consider your creditworthiness when deciding whether or not to extend a loan. Your creditworthiness is assessed based on three things: credit history, income, and loan-to-value ratio.

Credit History

As with any loan, your credit history will have a major effect on home equity loan availability and loan interest rates. Fortunately, qualifying for financing on a home you already own is much easier than qualifying for a new home loan. If you have good credit, you should have no trouble qualifying for a home equity loan. You should also be able to obtain a relatively good rate. If you have bad credit, you should still be able to obtain a home equity loan, but your rate will probably be a bit higher. Before applying for a home equity loan, take time to pull your credit report. If possible, improve your credit rating by removing mistakes and old debt.

Income

Even though the equity that has built up in your home belongs to you, lenders will still want to make sure that you can pay back any amount that you borrow. To determine your ability to repay, lenders will assess your monthly income and your total debt-to-income ratio. (Debt-to-income ratio is a term used to describe how much of your monthly income goes towards paying your mortgage, credit card debt, loan installments, and other financial obligations, including the home equity loan for which you are applying.) Most lenders will want to make sure that your total debt does not exceed 38 percent of your monthly income.

Loan-to-Value

The loan-to-value ratio is the amount you owe on your house versus the amount your house is worth. For example, if your house is worth $100,000 and you still owe $70,000, your loan-to-value ratio is 70 percent. When you get a home equity loan, the value of your home is re-assessed. The lender will add your current mortgage balance to the requested home equity loan amount, and divide the sum by your home’s current value. The final amount is the new loan-to-value ratio. Many lenders want to keep this amount below 80 percent. However, some lenders are willing to loan you 100 percent of your home’s value or more. Here is a list of recommended Home Equity Lenders online. It’s important to use a reputable lender online to make sure your personal information is secure.

Today, those with damaged credit have more opportunities to borrow to buy a house than they have had in the past. There are many lenders that specialize in what is often referred to as a bad credit home purchase loan. However, as with many things in life, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Indeed, loan availability could be considered a small part of the decision of whether or not you should purchase a home at this time.

What You Can Do

To help you in deciding whether or not you should purchase a home, the first step should be to run the numbers to find out what type of mortgage rates you may be eligible for and how much it would cost you to buy now. It’s better to do this before speaking with any lender offering bad credit purchase loans.

The first number you’ll explore is your credit rating, using information from one or more of the major credit reporting agencies. Among the best known is Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. Then, you’ll need to consider the loan-to-value ratio, or the relationship between how much you want to borrow and the worth of the house. Your debt-to-income ratio, or how much your total debts are in comparison with your current income, is another factor that will influence the type and rate of loan that is available to you.

What You Should Do

You can use the numbers you collected above to determine what terms and rates may generally apply to your financial situation and, with the help of a mortgage calculator, make an estimate of what a loan for a given amount will cost you monthly. There are a variety of other factors, such as points and closing costs that will affect that number, but for initial decision making as to whether or not you should purchase a home at this point in time, it is useful.

There are many lenders willing to offer you a loan, even if your monthly mortgage payment surpasses the 30% of your income that is typically recommended. That does not make it a good idea. There are other expenses involved in home ownership that you’ll need to factor in, such as repairs and maintenance. Buying too soon could place an undue and unnecessary financial on your shoulders.

Consider and compare the advantages to waiting. You’ll have time to shop for the best bad credit home purchase loan possible. You’ll be able to save for a bigger down payment and continue to improve your credit rating. All of these actions may translate into better rates and terms, which will allow you to pay less in the end.