Is There an Age Limit to Qualify for a Mortgage?

Many people are under the impression that once you reach a certain age, you won’t be able to qualify for a mortgage. Although there is some logic tied to that myth, it doesn’t make it true.

 In fact, as long as you’re a legal adult (over the age of 18), it’s illegal for a mortgage lender to decline you based on your age—regardless of being 21, 60, or 99-years-old, you can’t be denied a mortgage because of your age.

But this isn’t to say that mortgage lenders are obligated to offer you a loan. Even if you’re in the prime of your life, you’ll have to prove to your lender that you can afford your mortgage and that the odds of you going into foreclosure are slim.

Here are the factors that lenders do look at:

Debt to Income Ratios
Most lenders expect that your total monthly debts will equal no more than 36 percent of your gross income. This includes credit card payments, student loans, and of course, your estimated mortgage payments.

For this reason, it’s most beneficial to pay off the rest of your debts before you apply for a mortgage. It will greatly increase your chances of securing the mortgage you need.

Income

Mortgage lenders also want your mortgage to take less than 28 percent of your monthly income. In other words, the more money you’re bringing in per month—the more likely you are to get approved for a mortgage loan.

This is where age can make a difference. Not necessarily in terms of the chances of you getting a loan, but rather, when it comes to what income you’re including.

For most people between the ages of 20-50, the majority of their monthly income will come from their employee salary. On the flipside, many people retire in their 50s and 60s, after which their income will mainly be comprised of pension payments, high interest savings incomes, investment incomes, and other sources.

Credit Rate
No matter how old you are, the most important part of your mortgage payment is going to be your credit score. As is the case with any loan, the higher your credit score, the more credit you’ll be able to secure. Most mortgage lenders consider anything above around 740 to be a good credit score.

If you’re currently falling below that, try to increase your score as much as possible before applying for a loan. You can do this buy using credit, and making regular large payments to bring down your debt at a favorable rate.

source: northwoodmortgage.com

Foreclosure offerings in Nevada are hardly a steal, report finds

Buying a distressed home in Nevada was no bargain last year.

The average sales price of a home in some stage of foreclosure — such as having a notice of default or being bank-owned — was $126,521 in 2012, almost 6 percent higher than in 2011, according to a new report from RealtyTrac.

Also, the state’s average foreclosure discount of 19 percent — the price break compared with nondistressed homes — was well below the national average of 31 percent.

About 34,900 distressed homes were sold in Nevada last year, down 36 percent from 2011. Still, they accounted for 37.78 percent of all home sales statewide last year, the third-highest rate in the country.

California was No. 1 at 38.05 percent, followed by Georgia at 37.83 percent. Nationally, distressed homes accounted for 21.4 percent of all sales.

Las Vegas Valley home buyers and brokers say there is fierce competition for all homes, distressed or otherwise. That’s because of the limited inventory and the seemingly endless appetite of cash investors, who buy cheap homes in bulk to use as rentals.

Meanwhile, the number of short sales — in which a lender agrees to sell a home for less than what’s owed on the mortgage — soared by 86 percent last year in Nevada, RealtyTrac reported. They accounted for 33 percent of all home sales statewide, and the average amount owed was $121,977.

But just because short sales are a dominant force in the housing market doesn’t mean they’ve become any faster to process. It still can take six months to a year — if not longer — to complete a deal.

Nationally, short sales rose 4 percent from 2011 and comprised 22 percent of all sales last year. The average amount owed was $81,621.

source: vegasinc.com

Things to Have Removed from your Credit Report

If you want to repair your credit quickly, there are a number of things that you can do to fix up your credit report. In general, there are some things on your credit report that really drag your credit score down. This is a look at the seven worst possible things that you can have on your credit score, as well as an explanation of why removing them will allow you to repair your credit quickly.

Most of us are already aware that some things on our credit reports are more dangerous than others. For example, going through a foreclosure or bankruptcy can cause your credit report to be scarred, and can force your credit score to plummet. Surprisingly, there are five other things that can have the same effect without you actually knowing it. Because lending institutions and banks that issue credit can use your credit score in order to evaluate who you are as a borrower, it is absolutely vital that you ensure that none of these entries ever appear in your credit report.

1 - Foreclosures.

While it may seem as if your world has literally crumbled all around you, there is still hope even when you are going default on your mortgage payment. When you do eventually default on your mortgage, most lenders are going to force you to give up possession of your home. Depending on your state laws, the lender may then auction your home off within a certain period of time in an attempt to recoup some of the lost costs. If there is any deficiency at all between what was owed to them and what your home is sold for, the lender can still come after you to reclaim those funds. With all of the foreclosure that is occurring right now, more and more banks are trying to come up with special arrangements in order to work with the homeowners. Even if you work out a deal with the lender and manage to keep your home, your credit score and credit report may still be scarred by the missed mortgage payments and the pre-foreclosure. Foreclosures remain on your credit report for seven years, so avoid them if you can.

2 - Debt Collections.

Attorney debt collections and ordinary debt collection companies can create a huge negative when they are listed on your credit report. The average credit score can drop by between 30 and 85 points for a single debt collection notice on a credit report. Sometimes you will take an even harder hit because the original credit will mark your account as a charge off, and then a second entry will appear for the collection agency, and this will only do more unnecessary and avoidable harm to your credit score.

source: richcreditdebtloan.com