The 2022 home buying season is upon us and there’s little sign of things settling down much from last year’s roller-coaster ride. Rising home prices will impact most home shoppers’ choice of home and rising interest rates will decrease the amount they can afford.

We’ve compiled the top 3 things you can do to help your clients afford the home of their dreams.

1. Encourage clients to start thinking about financing early.

The earlier prospective home buyers start thinking about financing and working with a lender the better. Be sure to download a copy of the Credit First Guide to Mortgage Lending for lots of tips on how home buyers can ensure they are in the best possible situation to get the loan program that is best for them.

2. Ensure clients know how their credit score will impact their ability to buy a home.

Credit score awareness is at an all-time high. But not all credit scores are the same. The scores your clients are likely tracking are not the same scores mortgage lenders will be using to determine credit worthiness. This resource gives you ways to explain how credit scores will impact your client’s ability to purchase a home.

3. Work with CreditXpert mortgage lenders that will help your clients identify their credit potential.

We’re not talking about credit repair or credit counseling here. These are often tactics used for those that need considerable help with their credit. CreditXpert uses highly accurate predictive analytics to show mortgage applicants precisely how much an applicant can better their score within a 30-day timeframe if they complete a CreditXpert custom action plan. And what we know is that 71% of all applicants below 760 can better their score after completing the recommended action plan.

To help real estate professionals, mortgage originators, and prospective homebuyers understand their credit potential, we recently published the Mortgage Credit Potential Index (MCPI) that outlines the potential impact of better mortgage credit scores. Below are some of the headlines from the January 2022 index.

• Qualifying for an FHA / RHA Mortgage. 711K (52%) of total initial inquiries below 579 may be able to achieve a score of 580 or higher within 30 days if they complete a custom action plan.
• Qualifying for a Conventional Mortgage. 1.37M (43%) of total initial inquiries below 619 may be able to get to 620 or higher within 30 days if they complete a custom action plan.
• Increasing purchasing power. 1.97M (39%) of total initial inquiries below 679 may be able to achieve 680 or higher within 30 days if they complete a custom action plan.
• Qualifying for a better rate. 6.25M (68%) of total initial inquiries between 640 and 759 may be able to increase their score by at least one 20-point band within 30 days if they complete a custom action plan.

The bottom line is this: Optimizing credit scores is one of the most impactful, short-term things prospective homebuyers can do to ensure they qualify for the best loan program and lower the overall cost of homeownership. Ask your lender partners to use CreditXpert on EVERY client of yours!

About CreditXpert

CreditXpert was founded in 2001 with a mission to make homeownership more accessible and affordable to all. The company’s predictive analytics platform helps mortgage originators, and their applicants realize the credit score potential for applicants by generating a highly accurate and detailed action plan. Since its founding, CreditXpert’s platform has analyzed more than 750 million credit records. Today, most of the top 10 mortgage originators and more than 60,000 mortgage professionals leverage the CreditXpert platform.