Obtaining A First Time Home Mortgage
I'm making provisions to move in a year. This will be my first home. I want to know the best place to save for my down payment, and what type of APR would I be looking at with a credit score of currently at (630) and how much of a mortgage can I qualify for with an average income of 45,000 a year. Any advice would be great.
Thanks 
A 630 mid score or FICO is good enough to get you into a conventional or FHA product as long as you are supplying full documentation. Assuming you have at least 5% down and a DTI lower than 35%, you ought to be able to qualify for the lowest interest rate available. APR is the interest rate including an algebraic calculation of all the fees that are charged by lender/banker/broker.
If you are looking at 100% LTV, your interest rate will be much higher.
However, if you have a 630 FICO you might want to see if you can do some personal credit repair. You might be able to increase your score by 20-30 points within a year’s time. Request a copy of your credit and make sure that there are no collections or mistakes on it. If there are, correct them and your score will go up. Good Luck!
Swagman
Are you getting a loan in a year? If so, it is impossible to tell what rates will be then. If you could, I would try and hurry the process, since rates are pretty sure to be higher in a year, after the news on jobs yesterday.
APY is really what you are wanting to know, as the last reply indicated. It is the rate that determines your actual payment, not the APR.
There are conventional lenders that MAY approve a deal with a 630 score, as long as there are sufficient reserves and good DTI. However, unless these figures are immaculate, it will be hard to get a conventional lender to approve the deal (at least with automated underwriting, which the big lenders now use, like Countrywide, ABN AMRO, and Flagstar.)
I would work on getting the scores up a bit, preferrably by paying off debt like credit cards. This will in turn also help you DTI ratio and make it easier to qualify.
Hope this helps!
Thanks guys, I have been doing a little bit of homework already with my credit report and paying off debt. I should be in a better position hopefully before next year comes. I just wanted to know there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Based on what you are saying you could qualify for the following:
1) 97%
2) 100%
3) 103%
4) 107%
Just keep looking toward your goal of homeownership and the program will be there for you to utilize
Lori
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