YOUR CREDIT RATING
Before putting in an offer on a property, you should speak to a mortgage broker or financial representative to get pre-approved. If you do not have a relationship with a lender we can introduce you to one of our leaders. For your convenience we also have an in-house mortgage specialist at our office.
Pre-approval saves you a lot of time and helps to expediate things when you finally find 'that special home' and want to put in an offer. It also will assist you in finding out what price range of home you should be looking at, according to your own financial situation.
However getting pre-approved, the lender may hold the rate for only 60 days. This means that if you purchase a home and the closing date is 70 days after you've been pre-approved, the lender may not honour the rate they gave you.
What happens when you apply for a mortgage:
Your mortgage broker, or financial representative will first check out your credit rating. The credit bureau is a company that collects all your financial data that relates to your credit history and they will rate you according to your history of credit. This is called your Credit Score. If your score is equal to or greater than a SET NUMBER, then your loan/mortgage should be approved but if it is lower than the set number you may not be approved.
What influences a Credit Rating:
* an up-to-date credit report
* your credit history over the years
* if you already own a home and have a mortgage on it
* your employment history
* if you have presently have any loans & any paid loans from the past
* credit cards you have, the history of payments & the balance owing
* your past/present residences & the length of time you resided there
* your age is a factor sometimes
* your total income
* the number of times you've applied for credit in the past few months
