The information in your credit history helps mortgage lenders decide how much credit and what interest rate you are eligible for, and then match it to a bad credit home loan. The better your credit history, the more likely you are to qualify for the best credit deals. The first step is to understand if you are considered a credit risk. Most lenders will consider you a higher credit risk only if your credit report states that you have more late and slow payments than what is shown below:

Revolving credit (i.e. credit cards): No payments 60 days or more past due and no more than two payments 30 days past due.

Installment credit (i.e. car loans): No payments 60 days or more past due and no more than one payment 30 days past due.

Housing debt (i.e. mortgages and rent): No payments past due. This can be proven by providing (borrower's) canceled checks for the past 12 months or a loan payment history from the mortgage service.

OK, so you have bad credit, but how bad is it? The very first step to obtaining a bad credit home loan is to obtain a credit report, along with your credit scores. There are 3 main credit reporting agencies used by the mortgage Industry and they too will usually pull a credit report. Then the credit score contained within the credit report is used to determine your credit worthiness. And all this will determine which of the bad credit home loan products would suit you.

First you need to determine how long you need the second mortgage home loan for. Some second mortgage home loans may extend for as long as 15 or 20 years; others may require repayment in one year.

Be sure you understand how much your second mortgage home loan monthly payments will be and what they cover. Your mortgage company should be able to give you this information in advance. With some second mortgage home loans, youll be required to make monthly payments on the principal and interest. With other loans, you may be required to pay interest only on the borrowed amount.

Many companies will charge a fee for lending you money. The fee is usually a percentage of the second mortgage home loan and is sometimes referred to as "points." The number of points mortgage companies charge varies, so it may be worthwhile to shop around. If the fee seems too high, you may be able to bargain for or find a lower fee. Be sure to get the amount of the fee in writing before you take the second mortgage home loan.

If you have a fixed rate loan, the interest rate is set for the life of the loan. However, many companies offer variable rate mortgages, also known as adjustable rate mortgages or ARMs. These provide for periodic interest-rate adjustments.