I think you need to be more specific, but you can get pre-qualified with a score of at least 650. You will need higher for better rates (like 680, but more like 700 +). Make sure that most of your cards are paid down and aren't utilized more than 25% (and certainly more than 50%). Also, you should distance yourself at least 2 years from your last negative account on your credit report (ie, if you didn't pay for 90 days on your Visa, it should be from 2 years ago as opposed to 2 months ago). Banks don't mind seeing some problems on the report as long as it's been at least 2 years back. Again, you can still get a home loan, but it will be less desirable. Pre-Quals are easy... for a Pre-Approval, they will want to see W2s for the past 2 years, 3 pay stubs and something to verify current employment. It looks better if you have been employed at the same job for at least 2 years... I hope this helps!
By the way, they usually don't pull your credit report unless you are getting pre-approved, not pre-qualified. Usually for pre-quals, they just want your income and debt-to-income ratio....
Not sure that is true -- the mortgage company I work for always pulls a credit report before prequalifying someone. How can you quote a program and rate accurately if you don't take their scores into account?
Prequalifying is about figuring out how much home you can afford. As a realtor I used to prequalify people before showing. If they were uncomfortable talking to me I sent them to a mortgage broker who would call and tell me what price range to search in. What prequalifying really means is, "based on the income, and debt information YOU have provided, along with down payment money available, you can AFFORD a house in the $xxx,xxx dollar range." Big difference in prequal vs preapproval.
I've been pre-approved, approved and recently committed - not the padded cell type of commitment. I will be closing in a few weeks. I have another thread on this subject, but it's important to remember that what's good for FICO - which is the goal of most folks here - is not always good for your mortgage app. For example, I've got a Ch7 BK and one or two IIB's on each report. I've also got tax liens, all released. The Ch7, tax liens and IIBs will keep me from getting a lot of credit cards. They're all FINE for a mortgage app. Each "bad" TL is part of my BK. The tax liens all say released. Believe it or not, I went right through all three morgtage apps w/out a problem - no "questions" to answer. I've been told that two years post discharge is what the guidelines require - Fannie Mae or FHA or something. You can get loans that don't conform, but you're going to pay more. A lot more.
