One of the conditions for getting a home loan is creditworthiness. It is a myth that the bank is only interested in the real estate on which the mortgage will be established. It is also a myth that you do not need creditworthiness, because "why, if the bank will take the property if we do not pay off the loan".
Banks are not interested in taking our flats or houses. They want to give us a loan, which we will then pay back for a specified period of time. Their profit is interest on the loan, not auctioned real estate. Therefore, a prerequisite for obtaining a loan is having creditworthiness, understood by banking law as the ability to repay the loan taken together with interest on the dates specified in the contract.
Therefore, if we plan to buy or build a real estate on a loan, let's check our creditworthiness in advance and prepare for a loan in an appropriate way. Below I present to you 11 ways to improve your creditworthiness.
First of all, when we plan to use a housing loan in the future, let's take care of a stable income acceptable to the bank. The preferred income is an employment contract and, in addition, for an indefinite period. However, our own business activity or a mandate or specific work contract does not disqualify us as future borrowers.
Before we make a decision to buy real estate, let's consult your situation with a credit expert. He will advise us on how to increase our credit chances. It will tell you how long we need to earn the income before the bank accepts it. Importantly, let's not change jobs a few months before the planned loan application. It may turn out that even better paid work may not be accepted by banks due to its short duration.
This point does not require much comment in principle. Even slight delays in paying our liabilities have an impact on the BIK score. If other risk factors are added to this, e.g. young age, one borrower, short work experience, etc., then our chances of getting a loan are drastically reduced.
The report may include arrears in the repayment of loans that we have already paid off a long time ago. This is usually due to the underpayment of the last installment. It happens that the bank forgets to inform us about it. Another threat is the appearance of an obligation in BIK that we have not made. So a case where someone used our data to extort a loan. Regular monitoring of our BIK report and alerts can help us catch such a situation.
When deciding whether to grant us a loan, banks check how we pay off our liabilities. If we have never used loans, they will not know how we will behave in the future. This is of great importance in the case of housing loans, the amount of which usually amounts to several hundred thousand zlotys.
That is why it is worth taking advantage of low loans for the purchase of goods, eg a laptop, telephone, etc. Of course, let's do it wisely and do not buy all the equipment immediately on credit. Such a solution could have a negative impact on the high installment, which will reduce our final creditworthiness.
Even if we are the owners of a credit card that we do not use, the bank will still accept the entire limit for assessing creditworthiness. Usually it is in the range of 2-5% of the granted limit. So, with a credit card with a limit of 10,000. PLN, the bank will accept the amount of approx. PLN 200-500 as our monthly liability.
The final amount depends on the bank and its internal procedures. It is similar in the case of limits in the account. This does not mean, however, that we have to eliminate all cards and limits immediately. Let's just adjust them to our creditworthiness and leave only as much as we actually need.
When applying for any loan, we must decide whether we want information about our obligation to be processed in BIK after its repayment. If we give our consent, this data will appear in our report for 5 years after full repayment. Information about the regular repayment of our liability will positively affect our image.
Each time, before taking another loan, let's think about whether we will be able to pay off our liabilities on time. Excessive number of loan installments causes repayment problems. If we have arrears, our chances of getting another loan, especially a housing loan, which is our goal (because this is what this article is about), decrease.
In the event that we cannot cope with the repayment of loans, the solution may be a consolidation loan, thanks to which we will pay off the earlier installments and we will have one lower installment with a longer loan period. Unfortunately, the frequent use of this solution, i.e. repaying loans with another loan, will have a negative impact on receiving a housing loan. The bank may recognize that we have a tendency to become indebted.
Regardless of what loan it is, remember that in the event of temporary difficulties with its repayment, let's try to "get along" with the bank. Our delays may result from job loss or temporary health problems. Very often at such a time, banks agree, e.g. by reducing the installment for some time.
However, we must be aware that in such a situation, BIK will contain information about the settlement. For this reason, we will not get another loan. When we manage to get out of temporary problems and pay off the loan, the bank will remove this information from the database. Thanks to this, we will be able to apply, for example, for a housing loan.
However, if we do not try to reach an agreement with the bank and we still have arrears in repayment, the bank will forward this information to BIK. Data on irregularly repaid loans are processed by this institution for 5 years from the date of loan repayment. In such a situation, our chances of getting a housing loan actually drop to zero.
If we have checked our creditworthiness and unfortunately it is too low, we can consider joining the loan with a co-borrower. It can be a partner, parents, siblings, etc. Remember, however, that the loan period will be adjusted to the age of the oldest applicant.
Loans with decreasing installments, as a rule, are a more favorable option for us. If we pay it back regularly according to the schedule, we will finally pay less interest than in the case of a loan with an equal installment.
However, we must take into account that in the initial stage of loan repayment, we will have a much higher installment than in the case of equal installments. Over time, this installment will decrease, but the bank will accept the installment for creditworthiness, which we will pay back at the beginning.
Therefore, if our creditworthiness is not too high, it may turn out that the only solution will be to use a loan with an equal installment.
A shorter loan period undoubtedly has the advantage that we pay back a much lower amount of interest. That is why we often do not want a loan for 25-30 years. However, it may turn out that the bank calculates that we have creditworthiness only for a longer period. Despite the fact that we think that we can pay off the higher installment, the bank may not necessarily think so.
Therefore, in this situation, we can agree with the bank for a longer loan period, and we can allocate any financial surpluses to the overpayment of the loan. Thanks to this, we have the chance to significantly reduce the amount of interest to be repaid.
Remember that if you have any doubts, I am happy to offer you advice and assistance. Let's meet, you will find that my help in choosing the best mortgage can be invaluable.
Feel free to comment. Is the topic of credit analysis interesting for you? Let me know in the comment. Will be happy to help clarify all issues. It is important to me that every topic regarding the mortgage is absolutely explained.
Mortgage broker
Michal Kaplon
os.Stefana Batorego 80
60-687 Poznan
Strona www stworzona w kreatorze WebWave.