Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If your a 1st time home buyer (or haven't had an interest in real estate for the last 3 yrs I think) you should contact CHFA. CHFA - Home
AFAIK they do not have a minimum credit score and go on a case by case basis. My info is current as off Oct 2011 as I got a mortgage thru this program. (altho I have good credit - I still found the program attractive for my situation)
There are income limits and purchase price limits by town. Income limit is roughly 80k per year for married people.
If you can't qualify thru this program I would give up until you have better credit.
Lots of banks don't originate these loans even if they do originate FHA loans. I used Liberty Bank in Middletown and they seemed to be well versed in this program.
CHFA is an excellent program but puts Anthony right back to square one. CHFA loans have to be insured by
either HUD/FHA, guaranteed by the Veterans Administration or insured under the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program. The latter essentially uses HUD/FHA underwriting standards.
If Anthony is a CT resident he should look into CHFA due to their very low rates. They can also help with FHA 203K rehab programs and have a down payment assistance program too.
CHFA is an excellent program but puts Anthony right back to square one. CHFA loans have to be insured by
either HUD/FHA, guaranteed by the Veterans Administration or insured under the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program. The latter essentially uses HUD/FHA underwriting standards.
If Anthony is a CT resident he should look into CHFA due to their very low rates. They can also help with FHA 203K rehab programs and have a down payment assistance program too.
But credit still needs to be repaired first.
Yup, I had checked with CHFA and their response was:
Quote:
Our organization, CHIF, is an approved originator for the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) First-Time Homebuyer loans (www.chfa.org). This program offers both first mortgages and down payment assistance loans at below-market rates to first-time homebuyers in the state of Connecticut. Both loans have a fixed interest rate and a 30-year repayment term, and the minimum down payment is only 3.5%. The down payment assistance loans can also be used to cover closing costs if needed.
These loans are available to buyers who meet the household income limit for the town in which they plan to purchase a home. The limit for a household of 2 in the towns you are interested in is $81,000, so it sounds like that should be fine. One note on this-if your wife was previously working, we usually have to count what she was making previously toward the limit, even though we obviously can’t use that toward the mortgage. Their assumption is that she’ll return to making about what she was at before, and they want to make sure as a household you would still be eligible. The next step would be a pre-qualification review of your income information and your credit report. Based on this information, we can determine if you are eligible for the program, and if so, we can provide a letter to verify this for your realtor. If you don’t qualify at this time, we can instead work on an action plan of steps you can take to become qualified in the future. Attached is a file that contains a list of the documents needed, as well as a brief application.
If you plan to apply for the down payment assistance, you will be required to attend a CHFA sponsored homebuyer education class prior to your loan closing. They are free of charge, and are offered by a number of non-profit organizations around the state. The current schedule for these classes is located online. Go to www.chfa.org, click on "homeownership", “for homebuyers” and then "homebuyer education." You will need to view the current 8-hour schedule. The 3-hour class is not available until you are under contract and we have reserved a loan number for you with CHFA. Even if you are not interested in the down payment assistance, we do highly recommend these classes to all first-time buyers, as they offer a lot of helpful information about the home buying process.
and when I inquired further with my credit score:
Quote:
Hi Anthony,
As far as the credit goes, you would want to work on that first-the minimum score for this program is a 640. The actual report requirements are that any charge-offs, collections, or judgments be paid-in-full or settled and that there are no late payments within the most recent 12 months. If you have had a lot of negatives in the past, they want to see that you have since established a better history-so you need to have active accounts that are in good standing and have been paid on time for a while.
Based on the information you provided, I would focus first on any accounts that your name is on, whether they are your own or joint accounts with your wife. If your wife doesn’t have any income to contribute, we could leave her off the application completely, and then we only have to be concerned with your credit. (You can still add your wife as a co-owner of the property after your purchase)
If you have any other questions about your credit, I’m happy to answer them anytime.
Actually, it looks like what I did was contact one of the 100 lenders they have, rather than them directly. I see they have a down payment assistance program (up to 25% of the homes value, which could come in handy if I want to avoid that extra insurance cost!) so I'll contact them directly and see what happens, thanks!
FHA does not have a minimum credit score requirement. However, most lenders who offer FHA loans have credit score "overlays," which are additional standards superimposed on those set by the Federal Housing Administration.
The posters above who stated that 640 is the minimum score you need are wrong. That is a common overlay that MOST lenders adhere to, but a few will go lower. Carrington Mortgage currently goes down to 600, and I know a few months ago US Bank (on the wholesale side) was going down to 580 -- not sure if they still are.
Find a broker who has a lot of lenders in his arsenal and he should have an option for you. Good luck!
I have many contacts in the mortgage industry. I have been a lender for years. FHA still has no minimum FICO score.
Its not about the fico score. Its about the lenders willing to lend as there is still risk. FHA does not insure the entire loan. So this is why there are conflicting views on what the score will be.
FHA does not lend you money. The bank lends you money and the government FHA agrees to insure the loan for the lender. But the payoff against default to the lender is not 100% so the lender will still lose money if you default.
So, they then go back to their own internal risk based model, which most of the time indicates a hard line at a 620 fico is the difference between reasonable risk and major risk.
However, I have contacts who will lend down to 580 fico. The question I have is :
- what are your charge offs? What kind of credit? When was your last 'charge off'
- when was the last time you were late on any payment at all? even 30 days.
Can you provide 3years proof you paid your rent on time? 2 years minimum.
Lets start with this.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
