Lending In Today’s Market

How To Approach Lending In Today’s Market

I just spent 2 days in a continuing education seminar focusing on lending.  The lending industry has changed drastically in light of the climate of today’s real estate market.  There are much tighter controls on lending practices in this country in order to avoid the preditory lending pitfalls of days past.  This has the effect of weeding out the unscrupulous lenders which certainly brings more serious and qualified buyers to the table. 

There are more FHA and VA loans being processed today than lenders have seen in 10 years.  Be sure that when you are shopping lenders you find someone who knows how to do a federally funded loan.   There are many nuances that a lender will need to know with regard to these types of loans.  Conventional loans are harder to get as the bar has been raised with regard to FICO scores.  Used to be that you could have a FICO of 600 which would be satisfactory.  Now, in order to get a conventional loan, you need a FICO of 720 or better.   However, both FHA and VA loans are not FICO driven.  In addition, the down payment requirement is lower with FHA and VA.

Check my lending facts page for more information on alternative lending for today’s real estate market.