Many people make the assumption that since they have less than perfect credit, they are barred form owning their own home. They are under the impression that no one will trust them with a mortgage; while this may have once been the case, the rules have loosened up somewhat in the last several years. Rather than eschewing providing mortgages to people with a poor credit rating as they were traditionally prone to doing, banks and other mortgage providers have instead come up with mortgage products which are great for people with bad credit. These bad credit mortgage loans can help families who otherwise would be unable to buy a home.
You can find yourself having bad credit for a variety of different reasons. You might have overspent with that first credit card back in college, been faced with unexpected medical bills or any number of other difficulties which put you into this situation. No matter how you got bad credit, bad credit mortgage loans can help you to buy a home. However, there are some important differences between a traditional mortgage loan and a bad credit mortgage loan.
The most important difference is the interest rate you will be charged. Someone who has a good credit history can get a mortgage with an interest rate between five and seven percent; bad credit mortgage loans will carry a far higher interest rate than this. The higher interest rate is the lender's way of protecting themselves from the higher risk of default represented by a borrower with bad credit. Because of this, you should search for a loan with the lowest interest rate you can find. While this will take some time, the savings you'll receive as a result of this are well worth the time and effort.
You should be mindful of the down payment percentage when shopping around for bad credit mortgage loans. This is a small percentage of the total payment, usually around 5% - this may be higher with some bad credit mortgage loans however - this is something else to keep in mind as you look around.
Monthly payments can be relatively high with these loans as well. You can keep the monthly payment down by opting for a longer mortgage; 30 years instead of 15 years. For example, a home which costs 150,000 dollars will usually have monthly payments of about $800 on a 15 year mortgage. With a 30 year mortgage, this drops by almost half. Of course, remember that these figures do not include interest, which will also be part of your monthly payment.
