Frequently Asked Questions

Our mission at Your Business is to provide high-quality services that make our users' lives easier and more efficient.

You don't need to put 20 percent down to get a mortgage and some mortgages don’t even require a down payment. A conventional loan down payment could be as little as 3 percent. FHA loans require as little as 3.5 percent, and VA loans and USDA loans have no down payment requirement at all. You can get a conventional mortgage with 3 percent down, but with anything less than 20 percent, you’ll have to pay mortgage insurance and making a larger down payment can get you a lower interest rate.

The minimum credit score needed for most mortgages is typically around 620. However, government-backed mortgages like Federal Housing Administration (FHA)loans typically have lower credit requirements than conventional fixed-rate loans and adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). With that said, it’s still possible to get a loan with a lower credit score, including a score in the 500s.

Most lenders want to see that you have stable income coming in to pay for mortgage payments, and they typically want to see at least two years of stable job history for most loan types.

However, our lenders understand that someone who has worked for less than two years might still be perfectly willing and able to repay a mortgage. That's why there are workarounds to the historical two-year employment rule for qualified applicants:

• You can get a mortgage even if you're just starting your career. You don't always need decades of work experience to get mortgage approval. Sometimes, a lender will approve you on the strength of a job offer alone.
  
• Even if you're in-between jobs, you might still get approved for a mortgage. Lenders can approve home loans based on an offer letter for people between jobs or starting at a new company when they move. Having at least one pay-slip helps.
  

You don't need two years of conventional employment to get a mortgage. Many lenders will consider alternative income information for self-employed, contractors, or contract workers.