What Lenders Look for Other Than Credit Score
One person with a credit score of 620 may be declined while another person with the same score will be approved - by the same lender!
How can that be? It's because lenders look at several factors in addition to your credit score.
One major factor they look at is your current employment situation. They want to know how long you've been at the same job (obviously, the longer the better), and how much income you make.
If you tend to move from job to job, they will not see you as being very stable. Even if you have a good credit score, this can hurt you. Lenders like to see at least 2 years continuous employment with no more than two job changes in the last 5 years.
Another major factor is your debt to income ratio. It's the percentage of your monthly gross income that goes towards paying off debt. Lenders like to see a maximum ratio of less than 45%. People with good credit can get by with a 60% ratio.
If you're willing to put down a large down payment, or have a co-signer, then these factors can be minimized.
3 Steps Every Car Buyer Needs to Take to Save Maximum Money
The key to getting the best deal is to gather price or lease bids from as many local dealers as possible. Then shop that best price around until no one can beat it. Here are the steps:Step 1 Get Prices From My Trusted Network
Select the vehicle you're interested in to see if there are local dealers in my network who will provide you with their best upfront price. You will get direct access to an internet sales manager who you can further negotiate with online (no need to visit dealership).Step 2 Get Prices From TrueCar / CarsDirect
TrueCar, and CarsDirect are my top 2 online price quote recommendations. These services show you pre-negotiated prices from dealers closest to you - and the deals are usually pretty decent. But remember, you can still negotiate further.Step 3 Complete my Checklist
Follow this up with my checklist to make sure you squeeze out every last bit of savings.- Gregg Fidan
Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
About The Author
Gregg Fidan is the founder of RealCarTips. After being ripped off on his first car purchase, he devoted several years to figuring out the best ways to avoid scams and negotiate
the best car deals. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of car buying and taught thousands of car shoppers how to get the best deals.
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