If, like many other Americans, you found yourself unable to pay credit card debts and other bills as the country’s economic crisis hit hard, your credit rating may have suffered. Experts say that encouraging people to buy homes in order to stabilize the real estate industry is one key to helping our economy to improve. The government has even offered huge tax breaks to new home buyers to stimulate home sales. With so many people now having bad credit scores, it begs the question of whether it is possible to get a home loan even with bad credit.
Banks and financial lenders have long used credit scores to determine which consumers offered them the least risks for defaulting on their loans and people with good credit find it easier to get loans at lower interest rates than those having bad credit. Does that mean that if your credit score is not good that you will be unable to secure a home loan at a reasonable interest rate? No, not at all, it is possible to get a lower rate on a home loan even with bad credit. You will need to continue to pay down your debts, which typically will not immediately improve your credit score, but it does look better to prospective lenders than not making even small payments to the creditors you owe.
The first best move you can make for yourself before beginning to shop for a home loan is to fix as much of your bad credit as possible first, and improve your score as much as possible. You may obtain one free credit report from all three major credit reporting agencies annually. Get yours and make sure that the debts listed on your report or accurate.
If you find debts that are not yours included in your credit report or have paid off debts that you have not yet been credited with, there are two things that you can do to correct this misinformation on your credit report. Contact the creditor(s) in question and ask them why they have not reported debts you have paid to them to the proper reporting agencies. It may simply be that they have not gotten around to doing it. Then contact the credit reporting agencies yourself to alert them to the misinformation on your credit report. You will need in most cases to provide them with documentation to prove that you have paid debts still listed as outstanding on your credit report. You can also file an official dispute with them for a debt listed on your report that is not yours as well.
Consider that having to pay a higher interest to get the best home loan for you might be worth it in the end. Know that subprime home loans cost more and have higher rate and penalties fees as opposed to other types of home loans.
Think it over carefully before deciding to get your home loan through a bad credit mortgage company. There are pitfalls involved with choosing to work with some bad credit mortgage lenders who may not be concerned with helping you find the best home loan for you. If you do decide that a bad credit home loan is your best option at this point, protect yourself by thoroughly researching the different home loans and interest rate levels available beforehand, being just as diligent in checking out a company that you are considering getting a home loan through. Bad credit home loans are not without some merit and consideration for those with bad credit. You can rebuild your dismal credit rating through a bad credit loan and then refinance your loan to get a better rate when your credit improves.
Use the internet to find information on various types of home loans available and the advantages and disadvantages to each to help you in figuring out which type of home loan will be the best for you over the life of your loan. You do not want to ‘lock’ yourself into a home loan that turns out to be more costly than you had expected, nor do you want to find yourself struggling if your finances change and you can no longer afford to pay your home loan. This could damage your credit further and take longer for you to repair it if you were to go into default on your home loan. The internet is also useful for researching different lenders offering home loans and comparing loan packages to find the company that will offer the best home loan package to you.
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