USDA- Talk to an Expert

1.Will You Call Me? 

Yes, a loan officer from Bayou Mortgage will send you a text and call you to go over your results with you. While we love text messaging, the conversation is simply too much to be done via text. 

What will not happen is your information will NOT EVER be sold to anyone for any reason. The only person who will contact you is employees of Bayou Mortgage. 

2. Who Is Bayou Mortgage? 

Bayou Mortgage is a mortgage broker. What this means is that we are in your corner. We have the ability to show with dozens (hundreds even) of lenders to find you the best rate, terms and payment. 

As a broker we are compensated by the lender so we get paid the same no matter which rate or lender you go with. 

We ARE NOT a lead company. We don’t collect your information for the purpose of selling it or sharing it with anyone. 

3. Will You Pull My Credit? 

We will never pull your credit without your written permission to do so. We also will not insist that you allow us to pull your credit before talking with you.  Our process is thorough but fairly simple.

1. We speak with you on the phone to learn more about you and your goals. 
2. We’ll share the program requirements and options with you
3. You’ll decide if you’d like to move forward with an official application or wait. 

This process works great because you get to have all of those burning questions you have answered, you get all the info on the loan programs answered and if at the end you want to move forward you can. 

4. Can I buy a home with less than perfect credit? (Bad Credit) 

Yes. We offer loan programs that will allow you to purchase a home even if you have a credit score as low as 500. It’s a lot easier to qualify for a home loan if your score is around 620 but it can be done if your scores are lower. 

The main thing to remember here is that the lower (worse) your credit is, the more you are going to need to put down. If you have a 580 to a 620 you’ll only need 3.5% down to get started. If you have a 620 or higher you could qualify for no down payment. If you have lower than a 580 you’ll likely need at least 10% down to get started. 

We go more in depth on this in What Is The Minimum Credit Score to Buy a Home? 

5. How Much Do I Need To Put Down To Buy a Home? 

We have loan programs that will allow you to purchase a home with $0 down payment and others that will only require you to put 3.5% down. 

Which program you qualify for is going to depend on your credit score, your credit history, your income and debt (known as debt-to-income ratio) and where you want to purchase. 

Check out What You Need to Know About Down Payments to learn more about our loan programs and their requirements. 

6. How Much Are Closing Costs? 

Closing Costs & Prepaids are charges that you have to pay in order to purchase a home. These fee’s cover things like appraisals, title work, government fees,(you know they have to get a piece too) property taxes, and insurance. Closing costs can range from 2-5% of the loan amount. 

You can negotiate for the seller to pay 3-6% of the purchase price towards your closing costs which is usually enough to cover them on most loans. 

You can also use lender credits (by taking a higher interest rate) to help cover these costs as well. 

We dive deeper into this here: Mortgage Closing Costs: How Much Are They? 

7. Do You Offer First-Time Home Buyer Programs? 

Yes we do.  In fact many of the best programs for first-time home buyers don’t even require you to be a first-time home buyer, but some do. 

We offer many low down payment and a no down payment program that works well for first-time buyers, buyers with lower credit scores and buyers who have less to put down. 

We have an entire guide for first-time buyers you can check out as well. 

First-Time Home Buyer Louisiana Guide