Well I'm back from my trip, and waiting for me was a phone message from my real estate agent saying that the lender said I had "excellent" credit and that there should be no problem with me getting my loan. In the mail today was a bundle of paperwork for me to sign that included the preposed interest rate of 7.25%. Not fantastic, but not gouging. I haven't spoken to the lender yet so I don't know what my mortgage scores are. I'll post them when I find out. I'm going to seriously consider doing some rate shopping to see if I can get around 7% I'm wondering if I should even bother though. Any thoughts anyone? As far as inquiries go -- and I think this is really great information -- My Creditexpert score was 707 on the day before the first mortgage inquiry was pulled. Usually when anyone pulls Experian on me it costs me 3 points per inquiry. In the last week the mortgage company has pulled my credit three times. Two of the inquiries are coded as real estate inquiries and one of them is not. My score dropped six points to 701. It looks like the two that were coded properly were counted as one inquiry. I plan on calling Experian tomorrow to see if I can get the other one coded correctly. (As a side note, does any one know what will happen if I dispute these inquiries after my loan closes and I'm all moved in? I would dispute all but one saying I only applied for credit once.) I am going to have to either pay off or work out a payment plan for my state tax lien (Damn it! I managed to get it deleted from TU and EQ but it still remains on EX). Also I am going to have to write a letter of explaination for my Ford Motor Credit repo (the only thing on my whole damn report that is and was truly in error when I started credit repair!) I'll keep everyone filled in on how this process works out. I know I'd read every mortgage related thread hoping to glean information before I started my mortgage process. Since I don't have my mortgage scores I thought I'd give everyone a breakdown of what my "internet" scores look like and what negatives are left on my reports. TU: 601 on their website 673 on eloan EX: 668 on myfico.com 682 on the new Privista scale EQ: 701 on creditexpert.com (707 before three mortgage inquiries, one coded incorrectly) My negatives remaining are: State tax lien $6,500 tax year 1996 Ford Motor Credit repo with balance due showing (incorrectly) $8,500 DOLA 10-1998 MBNA charge-off $5,100 with balance due of $0 (transferred to another lender) DOLA 8-1997 Paid medical collection $305 DOLA 8-2001 (these guys promised to delete for payment but haven't yet deleted and I haven't gone after them for it yet.) I started my credit repair on March 17th of 2001. Since no one was really giving scores then I don't know what mine were but I do know that in 1997 I was denied even an apartment lease because my credit was so bad. I had several pages of negatives on each report. My worst was Experian and now it's my best. I had over twenty negatives on Experian when I started and now I'm down to three. Sorry this was so long.
Congratulations LVDave! When you finish and look back it seems a lot easier than it does now. It will all fly by. I am sorry I missed the opportunity to meet you LKH and Saar last week. Maybe next year we can visit you in your new home. -Peace, Dave
Congratulations on your progress. I just wanted to say you may want to fight for a better APR, my girlfriend is closing on our house soon, got a 6.75 APR and has lower scores, hers are 684,643, and 612. I am not sure which CRA is which at the moment. These are the scores her loan officer just told her. One difference is that she does not have negatives on her reports, her scores are lowered by the credit utilization ratios I believe, I have not seen her reports though. Again, congratulations, I hope to make progess like you have.
Good luck. I am still trying to get my seven mortgage inquiries removed (I'll even stand for them just being coded correctly). The only one that corrected them was Experian (this was after the mortgage company sent them a letter...they refused to listen to me). TransUnion has all seven reporting as hard inquiries and Equifax has 1/2 of them posted correctly. Congrats on the new home loan. Dani
davelv, congrats! 7.25 isn't too bad. What type of % are you putting down? Alot of different factors go into determing rates and in my shopping, I'm seeing % down as a major factor. spidy.
davelv, that is what I suspect I'll be putting down and I'm around the same (7 1/8 or so). The other thing to watch is the ratios. I'm currently paying down some stuff. A $100 a month difference in month debt repayment resulted in: 30K more house, 7.125% rate keeping debt payment (addt 100/month) the same, 30K less house and a 7.875 interest rate! Just a little $100/month reduction in debt repayment allows me 30K more house and a massive drop in the interest rate. Good luck!
Interesting -- thanks. One thing that may (or may not depending on the economy) be in my favor is that my new house hasn't been built yet and won't be for another four or five months. The down side is I can't lock in a rate today, but with what you're saying about ratios I should be in even better shape in a couple of months than I am in now. Nothing like applying for a mortgage to put one back on the wagon for new credit applications.
A great site to test all of this is http://www.houstonmortgage.com Click the pre-qualify link. They don't ask you for any identity unless, you click "Pre-qualify for this loan", so don't worry about spam or credit inquiries. I used this calculator alot when I was budgeting for the year. Although, it obviously isn't 100% fact (wouldn't be until you were approved for a loan), its a really good guide. Play around with the money for closing/down, debt ratios, etc. I used it to fine tune the down payment/closing costs money I would need v. paying down credit cards and installment debt. I don't work for them, I just found their site on bankrate.com when I started shopping for mortgages. I don't know if I will/will not go with them for a mortgage this year.
DaveLV, Thank you for sharing this!! I, also, read every mortgage thread I can find. I am hoping to apply this summer, but it may end up being next spring. Please post again any time you have more info or advice!! Gillian
Congrats! Me and dh goal is to be where you are by September...we started low 500's amonth ago, and are currently at mid to high 500's after only round one of disputes! It's encouraging to read other people's success! Take care..
