Pre-Qualifying

Get pre-qualified now!

If you need to be pre-qualified, contact me now. For security reasons I am unable to accept personal information via the web but I will be happy to help you over the phone. I am available 7 days a week. If I am unable to answer, please leave a message and I will call you back promptly, I promise! If now is not a convenient time for you, email me to request a specific time for us to speak.

Information on qualifying

There are five key components to qualifying for a home loan. They are:

• Your Credit History - I will need to retrieve a copy of your credit report. When reviewing your credit report I will look at your credit score. An excellent credit score is 740 or higher. This is the minimum credit score to qualify for the most difficult types of loans to obtain. A 680 credit score would be considered a very good score. A 620 score is good and anything under 580 would be considered poor. I will also look to see if you have any collections, charge off's or judgments as they can sometimes be obstacles. I will check for any recent bankruptcies as these are usually deal breakers.
• Your Income - Knowing how much money you make is key in determining how much you can afford to pay each month for a house payment. When pre-qualifying you for a loan, I will have to take you at your word however, when we get to the actual approval stage, I will need to verify your income with W2's, 1099's or full tax returns.
• Your Assets - Your assets can be anything from a savings or checking account to real property already owned. Stocks, Bonds 401K's and IRA's are all assets that will help you get a loan. In situations where a persons credit is less than perfect, having a few months of mortgage payments sitting in a savings account will help their cause.
• Your Loan to Value (LTV) Ratio - Your loan to value ratio should be simply thought of as the percentage of the sales price that you are borrowing. For example: If you are buying a house for $100,000 and making a $10,000 down payment your are borrowing 90 percent of the sales price (90,000/100,000 = .90). Your LTV is 90. Having a low LTV improves a persons chances of qualifying when other components (such as good credit) are missing.
• Your Debt to Income (DTI) Ratio - Your DTI is the percentage of your monthly income that will go toward your financial liabilities. Typically we like to see that your liabilities will not exceed 43 percent of your income but in some instances where a person has excellent credit and significant assets a higher DTI will be acceptable.

Please note that being pre-qualified is not the same as being pre-approved. This is true at Carrollton Mortgage Services, Inc. and any other lending institution. Being pre-approved means that your loan request has been fully processed and reviewed by an underwriter. This however is usually not necessary. If you have any questions about pre-qualifying or the home loan process in general, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.