How To Prepare To Buy Your First Home With Bad Credit

Consider getting out of debt or at least reducing your debt and saving up an emergency fund before you purchase your first home.

How to prepare to buy your first home with bad credit. Clean up your credit report. The minimum credit score needed to get an fha loan is usually around a 580. Pay down the balances on your credit cards to less than 30 of the credit limit. Never charge more than 30 percent of your allowed limit and pay it off in full every time you get your bill she adds. If you have a 1000 limit on a card with a 600 balance your credit utilization ratio is 60 which is considered very high.

Of course there s your down payment typically between 3 5 and 20 of the purchase price. Your credit score goes up if you have different types of credit card accounts e g credit cards store credit cards car college loans and more. You also need to pay for taxes and insurance related to your home. The fha helps people qualify for loans by assuming the risk if the borrower that s you defaults. These costs add up quickly and if you are not financially prepared you may end up in a bad position.

The ratio of the balance on your credit cards compared to the credit limit is called your credit utilization ratio. If you need to open additional tradelines warren suggests getting a major credit card like a visa or a mastercard not a store credit card at least six months before you apply for a mortgage and using it for items you would buy anyway. If you have bad credit but you want to buy a home start by getting pre qualified for a loan with the federal housing administration who are more likely to forgive bad credit than other lenders and allow down payments as low as 3 5 of your original loan. In addition to making sure your credit score is in order you ll also want to consider the cash you ll need to make buying your first home a reality. Federal housing administration fha loan insurance.

However if you can make a 10 down payment you can probably get approved with a credit score between 500 579. Thankfully there are a few things you can do to help keep the home buying process a pleasant one even with bad credit. A down payment of at least 3 5 of the home s purchase price if you have a 580 credit score a down payment of at least 10 if you have a credit score of 500 579 extra money to cover mortgage insurance anytime someone puts down less than 20 on the purchase of a home the lender will add private mortgage insurance pmi.