Credit score for getting a mortgage
I went into a large national bank a few weeks ago to see what kind of mortgage I would get pre-approved for. I had heard that it could be difficult to get a good mortgage rate for self-employed people, and I wanted to see if it was true. Since the self-employed generally do not have a history of steady paychecks going back several years, credit scores are very important. My scores across the 3 major credit bureaus had a range of about 30 points. This bank requires 2 years of tax returns as proof of income for the self-employed.
After discussing my business, pulling up my credit scores, and looking at my last 2 years tax returns and current bank account balances, I was pre-approved. It was made to be a very simple process, and I was impressed by the ease of getting pre-approved in this time of low interest rates. I look forward to actually using this credit score in the future when I make a large purchase someday!