The Mortgage Files

Nationally syndicated mortgage news and advice from Senior Loan Officer Scott Sheldon.

Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

How Your Fico Score Affects Your Ability To Get A Mortgage

By Scott Sheldon / September 30, 2012

“Why can’t I get the interest rates I see advertised on the Internet.” One of the most important characteristics of securing a mortgage is your Fico Score. Simply put, the lower the credit score higher the interest rate. How Your Fico Score rates is what determines both your eligibility for the mortgage as well as…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

What Is A Debt to Income Ratio?

By Scott Sheldon / August 24, 2012

A debt income ratio, DTI for short, is the percentage of your gross monthly income that is allocated for reoccurring monthly debt obligations plus your total mortgage payment. The way the math is calculated is by taking any consumer monthly debt obligations on a monthly basis and adding them to the proposed monthly house payment…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

How long does a preapproval to buy a home last?

By Scott Sheldon / August 24, 2012

As long is there no changes, to your credit, debt, income or assets a preapproval is good indefinitely from the time that you originally get preapproved with a mortgage lender to the time that you get into contract purchase a home. Upon getting into contract to purchase a home, you’ll want to provide updated financial…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

What? Another pre-approval?

By Scott Sheldon / October 31, 2010

If you are thinking about purchasing a home in Sonoma County be prepared to play the game for another pre-approval. The Sonoma County real estate market is dominated by REO otherwise commonly referred to as bank owned property. These unsold homes sitting on the market are oftentimes controlled by the big banks like Chase, Bofa…

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