Current Ohio Mortgage and Refinance Rates

Several factors determining mortgage rates are beyond your control; however, you can take steps to get the best mortgage rate. Here’s how:

1. Boost your credit. The mortgage rates lenders offer you hinge largely on your credit score, with a higher score usually translating to a more favorable rate.
2. Lower your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. Lenders consider your DTI ratio, which measures the weight of your financial obligations, when approving you for a loan. You can reduce your DTI and access better rates by increasing your income, paying off some debts or getting a cosigner.
3. Buy a single-family, site-built home. You’ll get lower interest rate offers if you avoid buying a manufactured home, a property with more than one unit, a vacation home or an investment property.
4. Pay mortgage points. Using mortgage points to “buy down” your interest rate typically allows you to reduce your rate by up to 0.25 percentage points per mortgage point. Making an upfront interest payment like this can be a cost-effective choice in the long term, as long as it fits within your budget.
5. Compare offers from multiple lenders. One of the simplest ways to save money on a mortgage is to gather loan estimates from three to five lenders. Evaluate and compare the loan offers they send you before settling on one. Shopping for the best rate in this way can result in savings of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars, according to LendingTree data.

→  Ohio conventional loans. Conventional loans are a popular choice with Ohioans, especially those who have good credit. The minimum requirements are at least a 620 credit score and 3% down payment.

→  Ohio FHA loans. FHA loan requirements are a little more accessible for borrowers with lower credit. You can qualify with a credit score as modest as 500 if it’s accompanied by a 10% down payment. Alternatively, for a smaller down payment — as low as 3.5% — FHA loans require a minimum score of 580.

→  Ohio VA loans. VA loan requirements are the most accessible of the options we’ve covered so far. They allow qualified military borrowers to get into a home loan with no minimum credit score and no required mortgage insurance payments. And as long as you have full entitlement, you also won’t have to make a down payment.

→  Ohio streamline refinances are a special option for borrowers who want to refinance from an FHA loan into another FHA loan, or from a VA loan into a new VA loan. To do this, you’ll use either an FHA streamline refinance loan or VA interest rate reduction refinance loan (IRRRL). Because you’re staying with the same loan program, your refinance will require less time and paperwork.

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