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I was told (real estate agent) that if we are denied by a lender that we can seek a different one. I asked about taking hits on my credit report and she said, "It won't count against you because they'll see you are loan shopping for a home".
Is this true? I am pretty sure we will be okay, but now I'm second guessing the mortgage company we put are app in with because their rate for a VA loan is about .25% higher (or something like that).
Can you shop around for mortgages without your credit being affected?
Your credit will probably take a hit for the first inquiry (generally 1-5 points is what I've read) but within a thirty day period all other inquiries for mortgages will not be "counted"
I agree that you can have multiple pulls within a narrow window without hits for the inquiry. But, I don't agree you should have the mindset they are unlimited for 30 days, and this is why. First, they really are not necessary if you know your score. If a lender can't give you a quote without you providing a score for them to use, move on. If they need your credit report in their computer, instead of the debts you provide, move on. It means they don't know the nuts and bolts of qualifying.
But the biggest takeaway: scores constantly change. If you go to lender A last Monday, and lender B today, the score can be slightly different or greatly different. That bedroom set you just put on a new credit card showed up Friday and was 90% of limit. Score down 70 points. Or a payment you had on auto pay @ $100 a month, well you didn't realize 2 months ago the minimum payment jumped to $125 per month and as of last Friday you are > 30 days past due. Score down big time. This scenario happens way more than you think.
As soon as you have decided on who you wish to use, give the authorization to pull the credit. You may also want to ask if they have the ability to rescore, in the event you have some debts that could be manipulated, resulting in higher scores, and ultimately, better rates.
I agree that you can have multiple pulls within a narrow window without hits for the inquiry. But, I don't agree you should have the mindset they are unlimited for 30 days, and this is why. First, they really are not necessary if you know your score. If a lender can't give you a quote without you providing a score for them to use, move on. If they need your credit report in their computer, instead of the debts you provide, move on. It means they don't know the nuts and bolts of qualifying.
But the biggest takeaway: scores constantly change. If you go to lender A last Monday, and lender B today, the score can be slightly different or greatly different. That bedroom set you just put on a new credit card showed up Friday and was 90% of limit. Score down 70 points. Or a payment you had on auto pay @ $100 a month, well you didn't realize 2 months ago the minimum payment jumped to $125 per month and as of last Friday you are > 30 days past due. Score down big time. This scenario happens way more than you think.
As soon as you have decided on who you wish to use, give the authorization to pull the credit. You may also want to ask if they have the ability to rescore, in the event you have some debts that could be manipulated, resulting in higher scores, and ultimately, better rates.
SmartMoney, I can't rep you again, but I wanted to thank you AGAIN fir the time and knowledge you share on CD. It's appreciated by many.
If a lender can't give you a quote without you providing a score for them to use, move on. If they need your credit report in their computer, instead of the debts you provide, move on. It means they don't know the nuts and bolts of qualifying.
This is bad advice. Only weak rookie desperate loan officers qualify and give out quotes without knowing the exact liabilities and the FICO score of the borrower. Not running your credit and looking for a lender who will quote you based on a verbal discussion is an invitation to be lied to because the loan officer will simply throw numbers at you and re-price your loan when they run credit.
OP, you have about two weeks to shop around for a mortgage until your credit score is affected by multiple pulls. All inquires count as one within the two week span.
This is bad advice. Only weak rookie desperate loan officers qualify and give out quotes without knowing the exact liabilities and the FICO score of the borrower. Not running your credit and looking for a lender who will quote you based on a verbal discussion is an invitation to be lied to because the loan officer will simply throw numbers at you and re-price your loan when they run credit.
OP, you have about two weeks to shop around for a mortgage until your credit score is affected by multiple pulls. All inquires count as one within the two week span.
If someone cannot provide a loan officer their debts, minimum payment and approximate balance, as well as, the credit score the last lender pulled, then they have no business buying a home. If someone doesn't understand if your score is different than the score you give me your rate will vary, they have no business buying a home.
It's the rookie loan officer that can't prequalify someone on the back of a napkin with nothing but a calculator. It's the rookie loan officer that can't evaluate a buyer's qualifications without a software program to tell them what blanks need to be filled in to prequalify the buyers for a loan. It's the rookie loan officer that needs a computer to tell the consumer if they pay off that $300 per month debt, how much more home they can buy at today's rates.
We as an industry are over-eager to pull credit on the consumer, when many times, they just want to know if a home's payment is in their budget. There's excellent sales practices and excellent customer service, the two are not always the same. We got into trouble as an industry because we didn't put the consumer first. It's time to do that again. Not everyone's quotes are based on credit scores - just ask any portfolio lender - most do not have score based pricing.
SmartMoney, I was turned down by Navy Federal and want to try other lenders. Can you recommend a good mortgage broker?
Not wanting to air your laundry in a public forum, can you DM me with what kind of loan, city, state and why they turned you down. Where I recommend depends on those answers.
If you like, include your email in the DM (not on the web) for easier access during the business day. I'm usually unable to get to CD during biz hours, but I will watch for your message.
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