{"id":75,"date":"2026-10-09T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/?p=75"},"modified":"2026-10-09T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:00:00","slug":"homebuyers-lending-standards-are-still-tight-but-new-credit-scores-may-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/09\/homebuyers-lending-standards-are-still-tight-but-new-credit-scores-may-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Homebuyers: Lending Standards Are Still Tight, but New Credit Scores May Help"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"roomvu-news-container\">\n<p>As someone who works closely with homebuyers every day, I see firsthand how today\u2019s tight lending standards and elevated mortgage rates have made it challenging for many to enter the market. In fact, home sales are hovering near a 31-year low\u2014largely due to these hurdles and increasing costs. There\u2019s some encouraging news, though: new credit models are starting to factor in rent and utility payments, not just traditional credit history. While this is a step forward, it\u2019s important to recognize that many low-income and minority borrowers are still being left out, even though they show low delinquency and default rates. My commitment is to help clients understand these evolving changes and find the loan options that truly fit their unique situation. If you\u2019re navigating the current lending landscape, know that you\u2019re not alone\u2014I\u2019m here to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a class=\"roomvu-news-continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mortgageresearch.com\/articles\/mortgage-lending-standards-new-credit-scores\/\"><\/p>\n<div>Continue to full article<\/div>\n<p>\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As someone who works closely with homebuyers every day, I see firsthand how today\u2019s tight lending standards and elevated mortgage rates have made it challenging for many to enter the market. In fact, home sales are hovering near a 31-year low\u2014largely due to these hurdles and increasing costs. There\u2019s some encouraging news, though: new credit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":76,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/77"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seanvaldez.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}