Your FICO Credit score is used by mortgage companies to determine how much of a risk you are for a home mortgage refinance loan. The lower your score, the more you will pay when mortgage refinancing. There are ways to improve your credit before applying and save money on your home mortgage refinance loan. Here are tips to help you polish your FICO score and qualify for a better mortgage refinancing interest rate.
FICO stands for “Fair Isaac Corporation,” named for the company that calculates your score. Fair Isaac evaluates the contents of your credit reports and assigns a numerical value to your credit worthiness. Because there are three companies that maintain records, you will have three FICO scores, one for each credit agency. Before you consider mortgage refinancing it is important to request credit reports from each credit reporting agency and carefully review your records for errors.
Any adverse information found in your credit reports will damage your FICO scores. Other factors that affect your FICO score include the length of time you have been using credit, the amount of available credit vs. your debts, negative credit information in your file, collections, any write-offs or bad debt. If you find mistakes in your credit history it is important to dispute the error and allow enough time for the correction to raise your FICO score before applying for a home mortgage refinance loan.
How to Improve Your FICO Score before Mortgage Refinancing
Improving your credit score takes time, there is no quick fix; however, there are steps you can take to raise your score. First, make sure you are paying all of your bills on time as 35% of your FICO score is based on your payment history. Fair Isaac also bases 30% of your FICO score on the amount of your debts and your available credit limit. The remaining factors include 15% based on the length of your credit history, 10% on the amount of recent inquires, and 10% on the type of credit accounts you use.
The items you can control prior to mortgage refinancing include paying your bills on time, maintaining low balances on your credit cards, and paying off negative information found in your credit reports. The more time you have to devote to improving your credit score, the more you can boost your FICO Score. If you are a homeowner with poor credit you want to devote at least six months to improving your FICO score before applying for a home mortgage refinance loan. You can learn more about your credit and how it affects mortgage refinancing by registering for a free mortgage tutorial.
By: Louie Latour
Posts Tagged ‘Fico Credit Score’
Home Mortgage Refinance Loan: Your FICO Score & Mortgage Refinancing
March 4th, 2010Georgia Refinance Loans With Bad Credit in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Athens, Columbus, Macon, etc
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Homes in Atlanta, Savannah, Athens and surrounding areas have appreciated to allow homeowners to take cash out of their homes, via home equity loans or home equity line of credit loans, to finance home improvement projects, credit card debt consolidation, education, etc.
If you live in Georgia and you need a mortgage refinance loan but you are worried about bad credit – know that it is possible to get a HELOC or Home Equity Loan, even with a low credit score be it 450, 500 or 550.
What is your FICO credit score?
Your FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score is number between 300 and 850, that indicates your financial health. A good FICO score is a score above 670, while a poor FICO score is a score below 620. Different lenders vary of what they consider a “fair” credit score versus a “poor credit score” – this
can be a gray line.
Having a good credit score allows you to get credit on competitive terms – good interest rates, exciting new loan products, credit cards, etc.
If you have a low credit score below 600, you will need to find a subprime refinance lender, who works with people with bad credit, whether it is due to poor debt management or a history of Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Not all subprime lenders are created equal. The best lender is a lender, who is willing to look at your specific situation and find you the best loan product. Even though, you may have a low credit score, you may also have good equity in your home. Some lenders even offer up to 125% LTV (Loan-to-value) loans, if you qualify.
By: Alexandra French