A client approached me a few weeks back with interest of getting pre-qualified for a mortgage to buy their first home. During our initial meeting, we discussed their goals, where they see themselves in 5 years and cash flow projections based on mortgage interest rates over the next 5 years. One of the questions I ask, is how the person's credit score is. The client stated they had no outstanding debt with very little credit card balance that is paid off every month. Once all the necessary information was gathered, a credit check was completed and I was shocked to what I saw in their report. There was an outstanding student loan which showed delinquency for over 21 months which literally had destroyed the client's credit score and history. I contacted the client to notify them of the issue and they were surprised to hear there was a balance since they stopped receiving a bill after they moved to their new address. They had thought the loan was paid off. Unfortunately, the outstanding balance was minimal but had accumulated lots of interest over the 21 months.
In this case, the client will have to re-establish their credit and show 2 years of good credit history to qualify for a mortgage at a decent mortgage interest rate. There are other alternatives, but are more costly.
By checking your own credit score annually from Equifax (http://goo.gl/5xqCP) these type of issues would be resolved. Similar to a medical annual check up, an annual credit check is important to verify there aren't any errors or items that need to be addressed immediately. The cost of checking your credit score is $24.95.
To discuss your personal mortgage financing needs, please contact me.