Credit: Tradelines

Credit Tradelines

 

This week we are going to continue our conversation around your credit. As discussed last week, if you are in the market to buy now, very soon or sometime in the future, it is wise to start here.

Your credit mix is also important when a lender is reviewing your qualifications to buy a home.  Just having the right credit score will not guarantee an approval, your credit mix is just as important.  The term ‘credit mix’ encompasses the items that make up your credit as well as the age of your credit report.

Your credit lines (or tradelines) are very important; generally speaking a good mix is 2 – 3 unsecured tradelines lines, i.e. credit cards, lines of credit etc….; 1 – 2 installment loan(s), i.e. a car loan and/or fixed rate loan with the occasional student loan mixed in for a good number of us!  For your credit lines, you should try and keep your balances at 30% of the line amounts.  An example of this is you have a credit card with a limit of $2,000, you want to keep the balance at no more than $600 while you are shopping for a home.

The age of your report is also important, you may have a great score and all the tradelines lines needed, but if you credit is only 1 year old, additional questions may be asked.  To verify your credit age, confirm how old your oldest tradeline is, that will determine the age of your credit. Until next Wednesday, have a great week!

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Why Credit is an Important Aspect of Real Estate

Credit is one of the 3 C’s considered when weighing someone’s worthiness with regarding to lending, the other 2 are Capacity and Collateral.  It is, however, is the first thing considered by lenders when reviewing your request to purchase.  It consists of many things, the first are your scores which are determined by the Big 3; Trans Union, Experian, Equifax.  These 3 scores are received when credit is pulled and the mid-score of the 3 is what is used to determine your creditworthiness and your interest rate.

Although the magic number of ‘620’ is what many lenders require as a minimum score, there are numerous lenders available that will make decisions based on scores as low as 600 – 619 depending on the program.  In addition, credit repair is an important factor if your credit is currently problematic and/or thin.  We have great partners we work with who do an amazing job of working with our clients, so contact us today and don’t let it be the reason you don’t become a homeowner.

Next Wednesday, we will continue our discussion on Credit and its many facets in determining creditworthiness.  If you have additional questions before our next installment, feel free to message us in our Facebook Page.

Power to the People

 

Power To The People

Knowledge is power as the adage goes.  The more information you have, the higher the likelihood the decisions you make are going to benefit you and those you care for.  Knowledge cannot be taken away, usurped, or destroyed once obtained and building wealth in the community is central to consolidating that power.

Every Wednesday we will provide answers to some of the questions most asked and misinformation most conveyed to me around homebuying.   We will also use this forum to address questions you may have around buying property, whether it be lending, credit, saving, what you need, what you don’t need and sharing insights around the process with the community.  We will start with one of the most common comments I hear:

 I can’t afford to buy a house.

You can’t afford not to.  Rents in the Puget Sound region from Everett to Lakewood are skyrocketing. With renting comes required deposits; first and last months rent to potentially be provided; and application fees to be paid. All to go towards adding equity and security to someone else’s property.  This kind of money could be put towards starting on the path of building your own wealth and security with homeownership.  With down payment assistance and lender specific credits, money is not the biggest barrier to buying, misinformation is.  Contact Bascomb Real Estate Group and let us help you stay informed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Us

Purposeful in providing the most personal of services, our firm is small in size by design in order to enhance the exceptional service we provide.  We are a firm that prides ourselves in offering superior knowledge and skill making us the only choice for your real estate needs.