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Comm/300 Week 1 Assignment

Decent Essays

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Prepare your finances for a new mortgage.
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Debt is definitely a downer, but it doesn't have to ruin your dreams of owning a home. It's true that carrying a high debt load can make finding a mortgage more difficult, but it's not impossible. The trick is knowing what lenders look for. A big part of that is your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. When you understand this ratio, you can learn how to tweak it in ways that make lenders happy. Of course, it's also important to pay the debt you do have on time. If you can, you'll also help yourself by reducing the amount you need to borrow.
Make Timely Payments

You can't make your debt disappear overnight, but you can make sure you pay your bills on time. There are several components that go into your FICO score, and the most important if those is your payment history. Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your score, which makes it the largest single part of your score. It even counts more than how much debt you owe, which accounts for 30 percent of your score. A solid payment history won't make lenders fall instantly in love with you, but a history of late payments will convince them to avoid …show more content…

To calculate it, they divide the amount of monthly debt payments you owe by the amount of money you make each month. This tells them what percentage of your income goes toward paying off your debt. Most lenders look for a DTI ratio of 36 percent or less, but you can get an FHA loan with a ratio as high as 50 percent in some cases. If your ratio isn't where it needs to be, you can improve it by increasing your income. You can try asking your boss for a raise or a promotion, but it probably won't prove that simple. Taking on a second job, however, can really help boost your earnings and your ratio. You'll need to give it a little time - your lender won't give you the nod the day after you start - but you won't have to keep the second job

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