Stephen Slotnick

Good Day Ms. Moretti,
I believe most lenders today will require a minimum, average credit score of 620 to be eligible for ANY financing today. Though I hear there are a few lenders who will finance an FHA transaction with credit scores slightly below, that will likely go away so that loans are less risky to lenders.
For all mortgage lending practices, lenders typcially pull a "triple-merged" credit report, which shows all three credit bureaus' scores on one standard report, but lists all of your debts in the body of the report. Lenders will "throw out" the high and low score, and use the middle score as the determining factor when considering your loan application.
FHA is an excellent resource for financing, and, even for those buyers who are putting down 10% or less on a home, I'd recommend considering an FHA loan, because 1)the mortgage insuance costs overall are cheaper, 2)you pay less of a premium on the interest rate versus a conventional deal with lower credit scores, and 3)conventional PMI companies will not insure a loan with less than 20% down, with a total debt ratio over 41%. FHA loans can be approved (depending on compensating factors) with total debt ratios approaching 55%...

Feel free to call or write if you have any further questions or concerns! - Thu Sep 2, 2010