Credit and Purchasing a Home
Credit score and buying a home go hand in hand. In todays’ economy many people have missed and or late payments on their home.
As I was reading the Baltimore Sun Newspaper, some time back on Sunday, April 22, 2012, an article titled; “Mortgages Taking Back Seat” written by Mary Umberger. It mentioned that in contrary to previous years paying ones mortgage has taken a back seat on the spectrum of the priority of creditors to be paid. Not paying your mortgage does have a big hit on your credit, however because it takes longer for the bank to come knocking at your door with the sheriff, some are deciding to take the hit on their credit for their mortgage and deal with the phone call from one creditor verses several from their bank card and automobile grantors.
In the past most mortgage companies were willing to take on those whose credit score was at least a 620. Some companies have already raised the minimum score to 640 which could lock out many people.* Subsequently, according FHA one can get a loan with a minimum credit score of 580. The real question is WHO, is going to take the risk to write the loan for those with lower credit scores in today’s economy? Have they been shut out? For those who currently have mortgages I wonder if missed and late payment will be the final case in your ability to purchase a home in the future?
Nonetheless, it is very important to understand how credit can affect your decision to “Move on up” in the future and rebuild the American Dream of homeownership.
*Maryland's average credit score is 695
Brittany
9:40 pm on Wednesday, July 4, 2012
I appreciate the knowledge presented here, but this article was almost impossible to read due to poor formatting and grammar.
"It mentioned that in contrary to previous years paying ones mortgage has taken a back seat on the spectrum of the priority of creditors to be paid." Should be: Umberger wrote that, contrary to the past, many borrowers are choosing to pay their mortgage last (or something more readily understandable),
This is just one example of something that could be fixed by one editor or presented by a stronger writer. As a former educator, the author should know to have someone read over her work to ensure clarity to the audience!
Josette Fowlkes
2:24 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012
Brittany, I appreciate your comment. Please understand those of the words of the original writer of the article as printed my the Baltimore Sun. I did not want to discredit her words or make them my own. I found the article interesting and was hoping for a discussion on how the community felt about mortgages taking a back seat.