Mortgage approval for a college student, Boston area

[Javier Fernandez]

I'm a sophomore in college right now, and i have the goal of saving money for my four years and buying a multi-family home owner occupied. As of now i only have a secured credit card that i've had for almost a year now. My fico score ranges from 680-720. I want to know if i'll be able to qualify for a mortgage 2-3 years from now if i only have my secured credit card and maybe a second card that's unsecured? I don't want to waste money on a car loan when i can buy it out right (which i did already). I'm from the Boston area, i'm guessing location makes a difference when getting qualified.

[Steven Skinner]

Javier,

Your credit cards aren't going to have anything to do with your qualification of a loan. The "secured" card you're referring to is, more often than not, simply used as a credit-builder card; similar to a credit-builder loan. Being at 680-720 you will be fine for an FHA loan when the time comes, which is likely what a college student would want to qualify for, given the small (3.5%) down-payment. The real components you're going to want to focus on are either maintaining or, even better, raising your credit score, having the sufficient funds to make the small down-payment plus any closing costs, and your DTI (debt-to-income) ratio, which I believe is currently still 31/43. The car you bought outright rather than leveraging a loan was a smart move and will help you there. You shouldn't run into any significant differences as far as "difficulty" is concerned when it comes to qualifying in different areas. Most lenders are, I'll say, generally the same assuming you're comparing apples to apples. You will, of course, find better rates with certain lenders at certain times, but everything is subject to fluctuation. Let me know if you've got anymore questions. Thanks!