By: Genesis Moreno

You’re finally ready to commit to purchasing a mortgage. You’ve got a steady job with reasonable benefits, someone you want to spend the rest of your life with (or at least a good chunk of it), and you want to create some stability for the kiddos stumbling onto the school bus every morning. Perhaps you’re still in the honeymoon phase coming up with cute baby names.
The point is, you want to get serious. It’s time to settle into your home life, put down some roots, and fix the welcome mat to the ground for good.

The real estate market may have a lot to offer, but there’s a problem you don’t want to come to terms with…your student loan debt. It’s finally claimed revenge and has come back to bite you where it hurts: your credit report.

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the 35% decline of homeownership among millennials between 2007 and 2015 is largely due to high amounts of student loan debt. Student loan debt can be a major roadblock since the debt is tallied into your credit score and weighs heavily on your Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI), which is one major factor used to determine whether you qualify for a mortgage. If you have student loans higher than your income, you better believe your DTI will seem alarming to mortgage brokers– especially if you haven’t been making payments!

An unfavorable DTI can mean putting your white picket-fence dreams on the back-burner until you figure out how to pay off those loans. With the interest on your student loans piling up every day, any house within your price range can start to feel a little out-of-reach… but don’t call it quits just yet.  There’s a simple-fix that can improve your DTI and get you qualified for home-ownership!

My Education Solutions, a consumer advocacy organization, administers Student Loan Forgiveness programs offered by The Department of Education. Student loan forgiveness is free money from the government that releases you from shackles of debt when you complete your repayment term. Being enrolled in a forgiveness program not only pardons a huge chunk of the debt you have to pay off in the long haul, but it significantly reduces your monthly payment, getting you back on track towards your financial goals.

My Education Solutions offers a money back guarantee if you’re not approved by the Department of Education. The proprietary calculator instantly displays the lowest repayment amount that you qualify for including the income-driven repayment plans that beneficially uses your income to determine your monthly estimate.

“My Education Solutions did more to help me get into my home than my loan servicer because they were truly my advocates”, said Sheila Hayes, a client at My Education Solutions who was approved for her mortgage after a good-standing letter was submitted to her mortgage brokers on her behalf.

In November 2016, Sheila began her forgiveness program with us after payments towards her loan servicer, Navient, were doing nothing to lower her outstanding balance of over 70,000 in student loan debt. The accruing interest made it nearly impossible for Sheila to eliminate her debt, so Sheila began researching for months for a real solution.

Lower monthly payments mean improving your DTI. The best part about the calculator is that it instantly forecasts your forgiveness amount also. You pay less, stuff your pockets, and get a good-standing letter to show those mortgage brokers you’re ready to sign.