What You Need To Get A Mortgage These Days

Lenders have become more cautious because they can no longer be sure of unloading dicey mortgages on big investors. That means they could get stuck holding them on their books. While all lenders have become more cautious, the biggest turnaround has been in the sub-prime and jumbo mortgage markets. The sub-prime markets lend money to people with less-than-perfect credit while the jumbo market serves people with good credit who want to borrow more than $417,000. If you have good credit and want a smaller mortgage, you should have no problem qualifying. Banks are still willing to make "conforming" loans because they know they can sell them.

Now-a-days Lenders are offering more straightforward deals and requiring their borrowers to meet these updated standards:

Clean Credit

Now lenders are back to what they used to be known for: scrutinizing credit scores. Out of a perfect score of 800, borrowers in the jumbo market must generally have a score of at lest 660, up from 560 since August.

Lower Debt Service Ratios

If your credit card debt, student loans, car loans and would-be mortgage payments come to more than 40%, your application will most likely be a bust.

Prove Your Income and Assets

Be prepared not only for requests for documentation from your employer, but also for records of all savings and investment financial accounts.

More Downpayment

Generally, you can't get away with putting nothing down these days. Figure on at least 5%, and up to 20% depending on your profile."You can also forget about taking out a second loan for the down payment.