Valley West Mortgage is a Las Vegas lender, NMLS #65506. We are not a government agency, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by HUD, FHA, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the USDA, or the CFPB. Equal Housing Opportunity. This page explains published program and scoring rules; it is not an offer, a rate quote, an approval, or a commitment to lend. Credit-score bands are FICO's own published descriptive ranges and are not a lender pricing grid. Any example is illustrative only. Program minimums and lender overlays change; verify current requirements before relying on them.
Quick answer: A 710 credit score may support a mortgage application, but it does not establish approval or a particular rate. The lender also reviews your income, debts, funds and property. Ask which score and loan rules apply to your file before deciding whether to apply now or work on your credit first.
The useful question is what a lender can offer with your full file. Your score is one input. Here is how to put a 710 score in context without treating a score band as a promise.
It can be, subject to the loan program and lender's review. A score alone cannot confirm whether your income supports the payment, your funds can be used or the property meets the loan rules. A good credit history also does not erase a recent missed payment or a debt that was left off the application.
Start with a mortgage preapproval review. Ask the lender what it has checked, which items remain open and whether the letter has conditions. That gives you a more useful answer than a general online score threshold.
A credit-score range describes risk under a scoring model. It is not a mortgage approval scale. The score on a banking app may use a different model or report date from the score your mortgage lender obtains.
The CFPB explains how credit scores can affect mortgage eligibility and pricing. Compare the actual loan terms offered to you rather than assuming a label such as “good” fixes your rate.
There is no single minimum that covers every mortgage. Rules differ by program, how the file is reviewed and the lender's own requirements. An overlay is a lender rule that can be stricter than the program's base rule.
For example, Fannie Mae's current credit-score guidance says its Desktop Underwriter loan casefiles do not require a minimum credit score. Desktop Underwriter, or DU, is its automated risk review. Manual reviews have separate requirements. This does not mean all scores qualify or that a lender must approve a file.
Ask which program and review method apply to your application. Do not use an old universal “620 for conventional” statement as a current approval test. Government-backed programs have their own rules, and a lender still needs to review the rest of your file.
Ask the lender which scoring model, credit reports and borrower score it used. The answer can depend on the loan rules and the way the file is reviewed. Do not assume it will match a free score displayed by a credit-card app.
For a joint application, ask how both borrowers' credit affects the review and price. Avoid averaging two app scores yourself. If a report contains an error, ask how to document and resolve it before relying on a revised score.
Some loan pricing uses ranges of scores alongside other factors. Moving into another range may change an adjustment, but it does not guarantee a lower final rate. Loan type, property use, loan amount and other terms also matter.
A Loan Estimate is a standard form showing proposed loan terms and costs. Use it to compare real offers. Ask whether each rate is locked and whether the offers use the same loan amount, term and closing date.
No one can price those scores in isolation. A small score change may have no effect in one scenario and matter in another. A higher score does not remove the need to meet income, funds and property rules.
Ask the lender to identify a useful target, if there is one, for your actual loan. Have it explain what would change and what would remain uncertain. Do not delay a purchase based only on a generic score chart or a promised credit-repair result.
Loan-to-value, or LTV, compares the loan amount with the property's value used for lending. It helps explain why two borrowers with the same credit score can receive different offers. Their down payments, property values or loan terms may differ.
Compare both the cash needed now and the full monthly cost. Keeping some savings after closing may matter to your household budget. Ask how a different down payment would affect your actual options before moving money.
First, check whether your credit report is accurate. Then ask the lender whether a specific credit change could affect the programs or terms available to you. Separate a known reporting error from a general hope of improving the score.
A lender can discuss a scenario; it cannot promise a future score or future rate. Read the four Cs of mortgage qualification to see how credit fits with the rest of the review.
Before opening credit, financing a car, changing jobs or moving large sums, discuss the change with your loan team. Keep paying existing accounts on time. Retain records showing where funds came from and where they went.
Tell the lender promptly if something changes. An earlier preapproval does not make later changes irrelevant. See what underwriters check for the documents that help explain your file.
No. The lender must also review income, debts, funds, the property and the loan program's rules.
Not necessarily. The scoring model, credit report and report date can differ. Ask the lender which score it used.
Ask for a review of your actual file first. A higher score may help, but the benefit and timing are not guaranteed.
Use your score to start a conversation, not to declare yourself approved or ineligible. Ask a lender to explain the full file, the remaining conditions and the written loan costs. Then choose the next step that fits your budget and timing.
Updated September 16, 2026: corrected score-only approval claims, clarified automated versus manual review and added a practical comparison checklist. Editorial update; no new individual expert review is claimed.
Find out what your actual mortgage score is
The only way to know your middle score, and whether it sits near a band edge worth crossing, is to pull the tri-merge report lenders price from. A Valley West loan officer can do that and tell you plainly whether there is anything worth fixing first. Valley West Mortgage is a Las Vegas lender.
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Origination: Lending outside qualified mortgage rule may help lenders replace lost home refinances
Home purchase volume is expected to increase slightly but this trend will likely be prominent in 2018, as originators may continue to struggle to replace lost refinance volume and their compliance and risk management processes become more robust.
Cost Competition: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tech help lenders expand credit box
What this means to lenders and borrowers? Lenders will be able to improve the borrowing experience for home buyers and make full use of the credit box.
Mortgage Loan Service: Market Consolidation
Mortgage debt is expected to grow 4% in 2018, following the 3.2% growth in 2017. The largest residential mortgage services will get even larger, benefiting from consolidation and the outsourcing of service rights acquired by companies without their own platforms.
Always Room for Improvement: Technology and Automation will drive the digital mortgage advances
Digital mortgage technology as we all know is the current 'buzz word." It helps consumers take a more hands-on-approach to the mortgage process, lenders are stepping up their adoption of automation and learning through artificial intelligence abilities. Which means a fully end-to-end digital solution which is still in the infant stages.
What Valley West Mortgage strives to better the way we operate our mortgage business from start to finish, from origination to funding to servicing and keeping our clients happy.
Compliance and Regulation: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Shifting policy stances and renewing focus on housing finance reform could make 2018 a breakout year for Congress to finally resolve the conservatorship which began on September 6, 2008. This conservatorship in response to the substantial deterioration in the housing market that severely damaged Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs' financial condition.
Resources:
https://www.fhfa.gov
www.nationalmortgagenews.com
Over the years, shopping for a mortgage has become better than ever. Purchasing a home is more accessible online and mobile, which makes the process more fitting for those of us looking for our dream home. Valley West Mortgage is here to make that happen, with our online pre-approval form, loan application, and secure loan docs upload capabilities to ease the stress of buying a home.
Buyers have been using a combination of resources when looking for mortgage information that include, real estate agents, online, family, friends, and lenders
Online is doing a lot of work in that list. If you are leaning on it, it helps to know which review sites actually tell you something useful about a mortgage lender, because review volume and how recent those reviews are vary a lot from one site to the next.
. Out of which, most buyers found that the industry professionals, family, and friends were more trustworthy over online resources.
Lenders were the top preference for recent buyers, with 77 percent saying they used a lender for information when shopping for a mortgage. Two-thirds also said they looked for information directly from an agent, while 69 percent said they used online resources, including Realtor.com, credit management sites and social media. Valley West Mortgage is your Mortgage Banker serving the Las Vegas Valley.
Online mortgage resource users are buyers between 18 to 34 and 45 to 64. Nearly half of all buyers said they used online resources out of convenience. 22 percent said because of their “practicality,” and another 12 percent said they were “easy to understand.”
If you’re wondering, it’s not going away anytime soon. Mobile usage during the mortgage shopping process has jumped to 65 percent and 73 percent hope to do so in the future.
Specifically, online tools and mobile resources are available to you 24/7 which is why it makes it more convenient to start your search there. You can compare mortgage quotes, obtain a mortgage quote, fill out a mortgage application, submit documents to your lender and look for advice about getting mortgage via your mobile device without the hassle of leaving your home.
If you’re looking to buy a home and need a quick quote, pre-approval, or want to speak to a mortgage loan originator you’re in luck, we have everything you need.
Resources:
http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/research-insights/perspectives/top-mortgage-influencers-lenders-agents-deggendorf-101917.html
The Analytics on Appraisals
What is an Appraisal?
An appraisal is a document provided by an appraiser (the person who conducts the appraisal report) that provides a professional estimate of the value of your home.
Appraisals are conducted by a third-party appraiser who is completely objective in their process. Appraisers do not work in favor of the lender nor the borrower. They simply conduct the appraisal and produce their findings.
Appraisals are most often conducted two ways. The first way an appraiser can conduct an appraisal is by noting comparables. Comparables, or comps for short, are properties within the neighborhood of the home you’re buying that are similar to yours. The appraiser will use the values of the similar properties nearby to determine the value of your home. The second way is by estimating how much it would cost to replace your home should it burn down or be otherwise destroyed. The appraisal will compile all of the findings of the appraiser including:
Why Lenders Need Appraisals
Lenders do not want to dish out more than the actual market value of the subject property. An appraiser’s goal is to determine that value. With this figure, the lender knows how much the property will sell for if you default on your loan. They also know how much they can lend to you without taking a loss if you default.
For example: If the subject property is appraised at $150,000 – that’s how much it will sell for on the open market. If your lender gives you a loan of $175,000 and you default on your loan, they now have to try to sell the home at a higher amount than what its appraised for, which can be difficult. If they end up selling the home for the actual market value, they’ve just lost $25,000. It is for this reason that lenders usually give a loan amount that is at or under the appraised value.
Why Borrower’s Need Appraisals
Appraisals are usually buyer paid and can be paid for at closing or during the application process. If you’ve signed a contract to buy a new home for $200,000 and the appraisal comes back valuing the home at $150,000, you should negotiate with your lender to lower the loan amount because you’re paying more for the home than it’s actually worth.
Overall, appraisals are a measure of protection. They ensure that neither party is lending or spending too much during the purchase process of a home.
When doing your research, always be sure to cite great sources! Check out the sources for this article below!
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/why-does-the-house-need-an-appraisal.aspx
https://www.thebalance.com/mortgage-101-series-understanding-the-appraisal-process-2395231
https://www.thebalance.com/facts-about-residential-real-estate-appraisals-1797691
https://www.thebalance.com/appraisal-process-when-buying-a-home-2395235
WHITNEY RUSH, VALLEY WEST MORTGAGE
The Federal Reserve is expecting to raise interest rates as soon as March of this year.
The new Presidential Administration team occupying the White House is expecting a continued growth in the US Economy that has previously flourished as a result of the Obama Administration. They expect that our new President will invoke more jobs, and theoretically as a result of more people being employed, more money will be made for people and for businesses.
More money being made, results in more money being spent. This cyclical regime of the flow of money is what (in theory) will create a thriving economy where everyone earns and everyone spends. When people have the money to pay back and pay off their large debts like credit card, home, auto, and student loans, the Federal Government can decrease their debt.
The problem with the Federal Reserve wanting to decrease their debt is that they gather money for the debt by hiking up interest rates because they assume that if we make more money we can pay more in interest. This means that the percentage that you pay back to the bank every month for your existing home loan and the cost for you to borrow money for the purchase of a new home, goes up. Sure, ideally we’ll all be making more money, but if the Fed is forcing you to also spend more money, how much of this new increase in income will you really see?
With the Federal Reserve strongly indicating interest rate hikes soon, those of you who are interested in refinancing or purchasing in the near future should definitely commit sooner rather than later. When interest rates go up, not even the Federal Reserve knows when it might come back down, as the Fed has noted their concern about the ambiguity of fiscal policies coming from the new Presidential Administration. In fact, the Federal Reserve is predicting the possibility of up to three rate hikes this year alone. That being said, there is likely only a small margin of time for you to take advantage of financially tolerable interest rates. If you haven’t yet done your application for refinance or talked to one of our Loan Officers about purchasing your new home, it’s time to get started!
When doing your research, always use great sources! Check out the sources for this article below.
https://fortune.com/2017/02/22/federal-reserve-interest-rate-increase-fairly-soon/
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-federal-reserve-minutes-20170222-story.html
WHITNEY RUSH, VALLEY WEST MORTGAGE
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been in the spotlight lately since the scandal that took place a few years ago, got them in water for collecting reams of consumer data, undercutting privacy rights while putting potentially sensitive personal information at risk in the event of a hack, and has been in the sight of congress since its inception for spending a lot of our taxpayer’s money on high salaries to major overhauls at its headquarters.
This time we have the Republicans after them. Republican Ted Cruz and Republican John Ratcliffe have introduced bills in the Senate and House that would potentially dismantle and abolish the agency. Cruz said the CFPB does consumers more harm than good. Ratcliffe, “President Trump has made it clear he’ll join us in our fight to dismantle Dodd-Frank and finally offer some relief to the small business owners throughout Texas and across the country who’ve been hit hardest by its devastating impact.”
When doing your research, always use great sources! Check out the sources for this article below.
http://www.mpamag.com/news/ted-cruz-backs-bill-to-kill-cfpb-60203.aspx
http://reason.com/archives/2017/02/15/the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau
- VALLEY WEST MORTGAGE
February 1st brings some good news already. The Federal reserve as expected has held the interest rates steady today as they begin to assess where our economy heading-but they hinted that the rates might stay low for a good while to come.
The Fed’s decision today confirmed those expectations.
“In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1/2 to 3/4 percent,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement. “The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting some further strengthening in labor market conditions and a return to 2 percent inflation.”
The FOMC also said that it expects economic conditions to evolve in a way that will warrant “only gradual increases” to the federal funds rate in the immediate future. The rate, the committee said, “is likely to remain, for some time, below levels that are expected to prevail in the longer run.”
When doing your research, always use great sources! Check out the sources for this article below.
http://www.mpamag.com/news/fed-announces-interest-rate-decision-58976.aspx
-Valley West Mortgage
Social Media plays a huge part in our day to day activities. From staying connected with friends to finding an activity on a Saturday night. With the popularity of Facebook growing every single day, it's no surprise that the Social Media giant is finding new ways to monetize their site in order to generate an annual revenue. Filing a patent is one of the ways the company has to earn additional capital. Social media credit approval
According to an article on The Next Web, On August 4th, 2015 Facebook filed a social media patent that could help filter spam emails and offensive content, improve searches and allow lenders to use your social habits to determine a credit approval. We are already use to the idea of making social media tool more adaptive to daily use, but allowing lenders to use your social media accounts to determine a social media credit approval is absolutely terrifying.
The patent filed by Facebook is fairly simple to understand. Lenders would have direct access to your friends list and they would factor in all of your friends credit scores to determine an average credit rating that could factor into your social media credit approval. There are already a huge number of determining factors that play into the credit approval process. Now Facebook wants to make their way into this process. This has the potential to deny millions of Americans the chance to purchase their dream home.
We mentioned in a previous blog post that less than 50% of the American population is saving less than 5% of their monthly income. What would a social media credit approval process do to that statistic? Probably cause that number to drop down to 2.5%.
Facebook hasn’t made it clear how this patent will be used and there are laws in place that determine the criteria lenders can use when deciding your creditworthiness. However, if this social media credit approval process is added into the loan process, it could ruin the way we use social media every day. SO we have to ask, is Facebook trying to make the world a better place, as they have claimed in the past, or are they just trying to make a quick profit for the next quarterly report?
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