Are you getting ready to refinance your home or are you getting ready to purchase a home?  There are a few things that you need to put on hold if you are considering doing either in the near future.  Remember the bank is looking for someone with a stable income and a good credit history.  One of the biggest mistakes people make is to purchase a new vehicle just before applying for a mortgage or even worse after they have already started the process.  Banks see this as a big red flag and it may cost you the financing for your home.  Hard as it may be, unless you are paying cash, wait until your refinancing is done or you have closed on your home before buying that vehicle.  A few other tips – don’t apply for new credit cards or credit line increases, don’t do anything that involves having your credit score checked.  These may seem obvious, but many people forget all about this and end up in a real mess trying to get their financing pushed through.  The whole process will only take a few months, so unless an emergency situation occurs, exercise patience and leave your banking and credit alone to get your home refinanced or your new home purchased.  Check with your loan officer for more details on what you can and cannot do.

According to DSNews.com several market indicators point not just to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability which could all lead the beginning of the end to the housing crisis.

The loan-to-value ratios are up from their low point of 74% in 2010 to 82% and lending amounts have increased to 3.5 times borrower earnings up from 3.2 times.

The banks are loosening credit standards, but the credit requirements are still a tough hurdle for many to get over. The average credit score has been remaining right around 700 which is slightly higher than before the crisis but is a reasonable number.  8% of purchase contracts that fell through in 2011 were due to the buyer’s inability to secure financing.