I'd like to share my personal experience for obtaining a mortgage with below average credit. Here is my profile: - middle fico score of 635, its been as high as 648 a few weeks ago. - many collections (mostly medical) several charge offs all over three yrs old - many late pays on revolving accounts, installment loans, mortgages - Current on all my acounts/bills for the last couple of years, no lates - Very low utilization rate < 5% - debt to income for new mortagage of over 50% - I do have good reserves, 20 months+ I was approved by Wells Fargo for 260K+ mortgage at 6.25-6.50% with very low closing costs. Let's just say I was mildly surprised/shocked when I was approved right there on the spot. My fico scores weren't breaking 500 a couple of yrs ago. We just put in an offer for a house that listed for 440K last yr and is discounted significantly. There is light at the end of the tunnel so set some realistic goals and get to work. I hope those in similar situations find this post helpful.
