How Home Loans With Bad Credit Are A Feasible Financing Option

May 24
09:48

2013

Lara Sawyer

Lara Sawyer

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Securing a home loan with bad credit often requires thinking outside the box. But approval is possible, so even applicants with very poor credit ratings can look forward to buying a new home.

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Not too long ago,How Home Loans With Bad Credit Are A Feasible Financing Option Articles there was such enthusiasm in the property market that few believed a recession would ever hit. But it did, and now many honest borrowers have fallen on difficult financial times. Those planning to buy a home must seek home loans with bad credit, which raises doubts over their chances of success.Complications have certainly been created as a result of the weakening economic conditions, but these factors have not killed off the property market completely. Securing mortgage approval is not an impossible dream if the concerns of the lender are addressed adequately. Of course, the question is how to do this.The fact is that, even with a very poor credit history or low credit score, a home loan is still feasible. All that is really necessary to ensure financing for your new home is to put together an application that is strong enough to convince lenders that their investment is safe.Strengthening Your ApplicationThe first step to strengthening your application is to check out your financial position through your credit report. This document, which can be purchased from any of the 3 credit bureaus, details how a credit score was reached. When seeking a home loan with bad credit, this is very valuable information.Most lenders are open to approving bad credit applicants with scores of 620 or more, but are unwilling to entertain applications from those with scores of anything lower. It is possible to have the report reviewed. It is not unusual for the score to be inaccurate because a loan that was cleared recently was overlooked. Through a review, the score can be improved, making securing mortgage approval a little easier.Another way strengthen your application is to take out a consolidation loan to clear all existing debts in one go. This also improves the credit score, while reducing the monthly expenditure. Thus the debt-to-income ratio is improved too, making the home loan much more attainable.Consider A FHA LoanThere are other financing options available to bad credit borrowers, with the FHA providing a practical solution to those who already face severe difficulties in convincing mortgage providers directly to grant a home loan with bad credit.  Still, there are strict criteria to satisfy too.The FHA mortgage is actually granted by a mortgage provider, but with the FHA sponsoring the deal. Effectively, they guarantee 25% of the loan, which is enough to lower in risk considerably while also removing the need for the borrower to make a down payment. As a result, the chances of securing mortgage approval are greatly improved.However the FHA program is reserved for bad credit borrowers with scores of 560 and above, while applicants cannot have any loan defaults for 12 months, have 3 forms of credit and have no outstanding CCJs or bankruptcies. Only then can an applicant qualify for an FHA-sponsored home loan.Making Your Home Loan More AffordableGetting a home loan with bad credit is heavily dependent on proving that the loan is affordable, and that the repayments each month will not be missed. With the typical mortgage stretches over 30 years, that is a long time to cover.But there are ways to make securing mortgage approval more likely, with affordability helped greatly by either making a larger down payment, or agreeing a longer loan term. A down payment lowers the size of the required mortgage, and the lower the required home loan the more likely approval will be.A longer term, meanwhile, makes the size of the principal paid off each month smaller. A $200,000 mortgage over 30 years translates to 360 individual monthly payments. But over 40 years, the same sum is divided 480 ways.