I applied online for a Countrywide mortgage. They pulled my Transunion credit report and called me today to tell me that I am approved for much more than the amount I requested and they faxed a pre-qualification certificate and locked the rate at 6.5% (or 6.35% if I fax them a signed purchase contract today). I asked if I am approved and they said yes. I thought that pre-qualification is different than pre-approval but all they faxed is a pre-qualification certificate. Anybody has experience with this? Also I am only working full time since 01/2002, meaning I do not have any W2s. They didn't seem to mind. Is there a chance they will deny me after I find a house? Thank you! Mark
I think you're pretty safe with prequalified. But I don't think you can be 'approved' for a mortgage until you actually find the house. Even if you can qualify for say $100,000 if the house you want to buy only appraises at $75,000 you won't be approved for the loan. They won't lend you more on the property than it's worth on appraisal. Countrywide is a pretty reputable lender, I think you can feel pretty safe shopping. If you're at all concerned about it, try not to aim for the outer edge of what you qualify for. When we bought our house we (much to our surprise) qualified for way more than 1.) we wanted to spend and 2.) would have imagined in our wildest dreams. So, we still found a house that was way under what we 'qualified' for... and it was no problems.
Markman if you don't mind what were your scores and what state do you live in. I know Countrywide also works with past credit problems. Just wondering their score threshold.
That is great!!! Are you the person that I told this to originally? I did the same thing back in December.. You are ready to go if the house appraises out right. I found a house and closed in 6 Business days. Pretty Fast Heh?
Thank you for your replies! They only checked my Transunion report. I do not know my TU FICO score but the one I see when I check my report is about 700 with one paid chargeoff from 1996. They said that I qualify for their best rate (6.35% right now) and about double what I asked for ($280,000 and I asked for $145,000). Does anybody know about the W2 question? I just started working in 01/02 so I have no W2s from previous years and only one tax return from last year (by filling jointly with my wife - I was attending college until then). They didn't seem to care, I just don't want any surprises when I try to close. Thank you! Mark
I don't think so. I was just shopping for a mortgage online and found their site. They have offices everywhere so I felt confident to apply with them. So far they have been very responsive! We will see how it goes. Thanks! Mark.
I don't know if this helps or not, CW is a different lender....therefore different rules. When my company pre-qual's someone that was a student, we look to see if the current job is in line with the type of degree/classes they were attending. We have been known to ask for letters from the college (i.e., transcripts) to prove this. What they usually look for is a "history" that can be documented. With being a student, I wouldn't worry about it.
Congrats! I believe I will be going with Countrywide as well. Got their application today in anticipation of a judgment going bye-bye next week! Can you say "window of opportunity" boys and girls? Will probably go FHA or possibly VA. Depends on which is best. They are not FICO-driven or so I was told. They are large and from what I was told they won't be selling our mortgages next week, next month, next year, etc!
If you do a stated income or no documentation loan, you can just state your income. You score must be a 700 or better I believe. The nice thing is that you get no questions and no suprises. I did it this way and only had to put down 5%. Not bad for a conventional loan with no documentation required. When my transunion report was clean, I jumped on it immediately..
I asked for this program (Countrywide calls it Fast & Easy). They said that we can do it but they need 10% down (wanted to put 5% down). After calling them this morning it looks like they do only pre-qualifications, and they approve only after you find a home, except if you go with their Fast & Easy, no doc, loan product, in which case they do a pre-approval. Mark.
