Anyone knowledgable with home loans?

[SVTLightning]

VA loans must still meet credit score requirements.

[neurodistortion]

Originally Posted by SVTLightning

VA loans must still meet credit score requirements.

Well, the official VA website says that loans are not credit score driven but that reasonable credit is required. In addition, a number of mortgage companies have additional guidelines for VA loans, among them credit worthiness, although from their guidelines it seemed to lean toward sufficient income with reasonable credit and not high credit scores. Of course, every lender is different on how they deal with individual mortgages. Some will work with lower credit scores as long as they have sufficient debt-to-income ratio. They also look for a history of making payments on time over the previous year.

[SmartMoney]

The bottom line is the market is too dicey for any lender to originate a marginal loan. True, the VA does not have a minimum credit score, but the climate has changed dramatically. The VA guarantee or the FHA mortgage insurance is no longer the gold standard for a loan approval. See, that guarantee or insurance only covers a percentage of loss for the lender. Declining values change the entire equation, so that guarantee or insurance really doesn't adequately offset the potential losses of a defaulted loan.

Throw away what you learned up to a year ago and go back to what you knew in the late 70's and early 80's to get a loan. Only this time around, women can get a loan in their own name, without their husband's permission. Things have changed and there are continuing signs the clamp-down is here to stay and most likely will tighten further.