Hi everyone and welcome back to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for a richer life.

I'm Laura Adams. With interest rates at historic lows, you may have wondered

whether you should pull the trigger on buying a home, buying an investment property,

or refinancing a mortgage.

Even though interest rates and home values are low,

lending standards are higher than ever.

In this podcast, we'll explore what it takes

to qualify for a conventional mortgage in the current credit environment.

Before you apply for a new mortgage or refinance, you need to make sure that you're in good financial

shape. If you don't have the financial chops to qualify

or have more debt than is allowed for a refinance,

for instance, going through the application process

will be a waste of time.

It's possible that you could be approved for a loan, but

at an outrageously high interest rate. Each lending institution has different underwriting

guidelines for evaluating a potential borrower.

And I'm sure you know that due to the credit crisis,

lending standards are now tougher than ever.

When you apply for a home loan, you're generally judged

on the following five categories.

Income, do you earn enough to make mortgage payments and is it likely that this

income will continue in the future? Credit score, how likely are you to make on-time mortgage payments

...