There are multiple factors that determine whether or not you’ll be approved for the loan and at what rate. Most of the time, the advertised rates you hear on the radio or see on TV or newspapers are typically for the “A paper” individuals or those with a high credit score, good documented income and a good financial history. The amount of loan you can be prequalified for or get approved for is also based on these factors.

Your credit score is a large determining factor related to getting approved for a loan at a given rate. Monitoring your credit score may be important previous to going to apply for a loan so that you know what it is and you can make improvements or challenge some points on the credit report if your score is based on inaccuracies. This site won’t have too much about credit repair or credit scores except to say that the higher it is, the better.

The other factors that will determine your ability to qualify for a loan at a given amount will be the amount of income you make, the amount of loan you’re requesting, previous financial history (most of which is available on your credit report), and the current state of affairs within the lending industry. You’re most likely aware of the real estate and mortgage meltdown of recent months with banks having issues because of poor lending policies. As this happened and banks started “tightening their belts”, it became more difficult to get approved for a loan mostly because each loan was under more scrutiny from an executive level.

There are a few good places you can review online about how to improve your credit score and in turn save money on something as large as a home loan. In Salt Lake City, mortgages are typically available for just about anybody with good credit, but some may go through a process of getting approved through what’s called the Sub Prime Market which you have surely heard this term thrown around in the news in the past year or two.