How Credit Scores Plays a Role in Getting a Mortgage in Kentucky



A good credit score helps you qualify for a Kentucky mortgage with the best loan terms. 

Here’s why.
 
Because good credit scores tell mortgage lenders that you’re a safe bet to repay a loan, they may reward you for reducing their risk. A credit score above 760 is considered excellent and gets you the best home loan rates, according to the online financial site NerdWallet. NerdWallet says that the lending industry, in general, adjusts the interest rates that they offer based on credit score.

 On a conventional mortgage, the higher your credit score the lower the interest rate will be. The lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate, which could cost you a lot of money over the life of the loan.
 
Borrower-required credit scores vary with the type of mortgage.

 A government-insured Kentucky FHA loan, for example, has lower credit score (500 score for some borrowers and down payment requirements than conventional loans (minimum score 620) .

 Kentucky VA loans (no minimum credit score) also offer terms that may have lower credit score benchmarks since many members of the military won’t need or get credit until they leave the service. 

If you’re a Kentucky first-time homebuyer looking for a mortgage program that will make home ownership possible, it pays (literally) to shop around.







One Road to Better Credit
If you’re seriously thinking of home ownership, but need to improve your financial profile first, a good way to build credit is with a secured credit card. Secured cards like the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card are powerful credit-building tools. You make a security deposit to the card company equal to the amount of your line of credit. Then you can charge purchases to the card like any regular credit card.
Credit cards like the OpenSky card report to the major credit bureaus each month. The work you put into building good credit – using the card for purchases regularly, paying down or paying off your balance each month, on time – can pay off with a greatly improved credit score, even as quickly as six months.