The USDA home loan credit score requirement is surprisingly reasonable, especially considering that it’s a 0% down mortgage.

Most lenders require a 620 minimum credit score, but if your score falls below that, you’re still in the game. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) doesn’t set a hard minimum, which means lenders can still approve you with a lower score.

Wondering how? We’ll break down the USDA credit score requirements and what you can do to increase your chances of qualifying for a mortgage.

Short on cash for your mortgage down payment? You’re not alone.

A Realtor.com study revealed that 45% of first-time homebuyers cited a lack of down payment funds as their biggest barrier to buying. It was the most-cited homebuying barrier by a wide margin. 

After all, even a small down payment on a modest home requires thousands of dollars — a tough hurdle, especially as today’s rising rent prices make it even harder to set aside money.

But you may not need to save a huge down payment all by yourself. Many loan programs offer low and no down payment options, and you may also qualify for down payment assistance*.

You’ve got a lot of decisions to make when you buy a home: property type, city, neighborhood, square footage, amount of yard space.

But choosing a mortgage lender is almost as important as choosing your home, especially in today’s real estate market. The right lender can help you gain a competitive edge over other buyers and get into the home you want.

Many people have very strong opinions on reverse mortgage loans. Frequently, those opinions are based on misconceptions about what reverse mortgages are and how they work. One such fallacy that continues to live on is that reverse mortgages are just a loan of last resort—something that’s only for cash-strapped homeowners to utilize when all other viable solutions have been exhausted. 

In a recent New York Times article titled Reverse Mortgages Are No Longer Just for Homeowners Short on Cash, the author writes: “It was conventional wisdom that a reverse mortgage was a last-resort option for the oldest homeowners who desperately needed cash. But a growing number of researchers say these loans could be a good option for people earlier in their retirement […] who are not needy at all.”