{"id":183,"date":"2025-01-15T13:42:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T19:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=183"},"modified":"2025-01-15T13:42:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T19:42:33","slug":"the-truth-about-credit-scores-and-buying-a-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=183","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About Credit Scores and Buying a Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Truth About Credit Scores and Buying a Home<\/a><\/h2>\n
For Buyers,\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Buying Tips<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
Article from Keeping Current Matters<\/div>\n
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Your credit score plays a big role in the\u00a0homebuying<\/a> process. It\u2019s one of the key factors lenders look at to determine which loan options you qualify for and what your terms might be. But there\u2019s a myth about credit scores that may be holding some buyers back.\u00a0 Read more for the Truth About Credit Scores and Buying a Home.<\/p>\n

The Myth: You Need To Have Perfect Credit<\/strong><\/h4>\n

According to\u00a0Fannie Mae<\/em>, only\u00a0<\/strong>32%<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of potential homebuyers have a good idea of what credit score lenders actually require.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That means two-thirds of\u00a0buyers<\/a>\u00a0don\u2019t actually know what lenders are looking for \u2013 and most overestimate the minimum credit score needed.<\/p>\n

The Reality: Perfect Isn\u2019t Necessary<\/strong><\/h4>\n

But the truth is, you don\u2019t need perfect credit to become a homeowner<\/strong>. To see the average score, by loan type, for recent homebuyers check out the graph below:<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>There is no set cut-off score across the board. As FICO\u00a0explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile many lenders use credit scores like FICO Scores to help them make lending decisions, each lender has its own strategy, including the level of risk it finds acceptable. There is no single \u201ccutoff score\u201d used by all lenders, and there are many additional factors that lenders may use . . .\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, even if your credit score isn\u2019t as high as you\u2019d like, you may still be able to get a home loan. Just know that, even though you don\u2019t need perfect credit to\u00a0buy a home<\/a>, your score can have an impact on your loan options and the terms you\u2019re able to get.<\/p>\n

Work with a trusted lender who can walk you through what you\u2019d qualify for.<\/p>\n

Simple Tips To Improve Your Credit Score<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you want to open up your options a bit more after talking to a lender, here are a few tips from\u00a0Experian<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Freddie Mac<\/em><\/a>\u00a0that can help give your score a boost:<\/p>\n

1. Pay Your Bills on Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

This includes everything from credit cards to utilities and other monthly payments. A track record of on-time payments shows lenders you\u2019re responsible and reliable.<\/p>\n

2. Pay Down Outstanding Debt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reducing your overall debt not only improves your credit utilization ratio (how much credit you\u2019re using compared to your total limit) but also makes you a lower-risk borrower in the eyes of lenders. That makes them more likely to approve a loan with better terms.<\/p>\n

3. Hold Off on Applying for New Credit<\/strong><\/p>\n

While opening new credit accounts might seem like a quick way to boost your score, too many applications in a short period can have the opposite effect. Focus on improving your existing accounts instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bottom Line<\/h3>\n

Your credit score doesn\u2019t have to be perfect to qualify for a home loan. The best way to know where you stand? Work with a trusted lender to explore your options.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Twila Bertrand, Realtor<\/strong><\/p>\n

CENTURY 21 Cota Realty<\/strong><\/p>\n

1306 N Medford Drive<\/p>\n

Lufkin, Tx 75901<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Helping Buyers and Sellers with Real Estate in Lufkin, Huntington, Nacogdoches, and all of East Texas since 2012!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The link to my zillow website with listings and client testimonials is below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.zillow.com\/profile\/Twila%20Bertrand<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Truth About Credit Scores and Buying a Home Tuesday January 14th, 2025\u00a0For Buyers,\u00a0Buying Tips Article from Keeping Current Matters Your credit score plays a big role in the\u00a0homebuying process. It\u2019s one of the key factors lenders look at to determine which loan options you qualify for and what your terms might be. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194391,"featured_media":184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[27,51,28,31,57,50,70,55,45,40,30,42,71,46],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-angelina-county-real-estate","tag-buyers-mistakes","tag-buying-a-home","tag-buying-facts","tag-buying-power","tag-buying-smart","tag-credit-score","tag-expert-advice","tag-first-time-homebuyers","tag-home-affordability","tag-homeownership","tag-invest-wisely","tag-local-lender","tag-trust-the-pros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/194391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}