Is there hope for us??

[RedLight]

We closed our bk in Dec 2008. We are now 14 months out and wanting to move. Our individual credit scores are 614 and 640. Any advice on the best route for us to go?

Thanks!

[Justpoor]

Are you looking to buy or rent? I've found a lot of apartments that will rent even with bad credit. They have really gotten easier on the credit application. I even found one yetserday that will take me on unemployment. And it was a nice, safe, community.

[RedLight]

We are looking to buy. We have three kids and I run a business out of my home, so an apartment really isn't an option for us.

Any other thoughts?

[Justpoor]

Sorry. Can't help ya. Rent a house maybe?

[AngelinaCat]

Look around your area. If your area is anything like ours, there are 'for sale', 'for rent', and just plain abandoned homes all around. You want to look for distressed properties that the banks will be happy to get rid of. Those banks may work with you...

Good luck.

[NanaOf11]

Get a secured cc'd and a loan through a Credit union. Max the card out then pay it ALL back over 6mo. Make pmts on time & make sure everything is reporting correctly on the three credit gods reports!

[LSUTiger32]

I would call around and look for a mortgage broker that specializes in tough situations like ours. I have already found one in my area and I will be calling her back in November (one year out) to get rolling. I figure no one is going to do anything within a year.

Secondly, look for owner financing, or contractor financing type stuff. The interest rate may be a little higher, but they are easier to qualify for and you can use them as a credit reference. Some will even report.

[gophermn]

You have a ton of options. Rent an apartment, rent a house or even do a rent to own a house. There are brokers out there HURTING for $$$ and will work with you.
Just look for a respected broker and let them help.

[Flamingo]

We closed our bk in Dec 2008. We are now 14 months out and wanting to move. Our individual credit scores are 614 and 640. Any advice on the best route for us to go?

Thanks!

Best thing to do is to get a good broker to review your situation. The attorney who handled your BK is a good source for broker information as they deal with this all the time (when we refinanced to buy out of our Chapter 13 our broker was referred to us by our attorney and we could not have done better elsewhere). There is no guarantee as to anything with the BK on your credit reports, your scores still low and the length of time since discharge. You may just have to wait a while as the only thing that can sometimes help is passage of time and stellar credit from discharge on out.

[RedLight]

A big thanks to everyone here. After talking to DW, we are going to wait a few months and continue building our savings to bring a larger down payment to the table, we don't want to touch our emergency savings or be house poor. I think at that point, we will feel comfortable talking with a lender and seeing what options are available. I think people are right here, our scores have increased just over 100 points in a year, so hopefully by the time we are ready, we will be around 680 or so. We still have some stuff to correct on our credit reports. Wish us luck...

[TheBrokeCouple]

I totally agree with Flamingo. Once we were almost a year out from our BK discharge, I started calling lenders. I called every broker, every bank, credit union I could find until I found someone who was willing to listen and hear me out. An experienced broker who has good ties to the community and good relationships with lenders and underwriters can sell your situation to them. It took us a while, we started calling in June of 2009 and our mortgage was finally approved in November of 2009 and we closed December of 2009. We had to have scores in the 620s or better, savings pattern established, on time payments for our rent, van etc and offer a letter of explanation. It was hard work, but so worth it in the end...especially when EVERYONE was telling us it would be 3-4 years before we could get a loan due to our forclosure. We were able to obtain a USDA direct loan at 5.5% with nothing down. We had to pay our $500 ernest money and $400 at closing. The seller paid $2500 in closing costs and we put the remainder of our closing costs in our loan.

Whatever you do, don't be discouraged. If one door closes, move on...someone will be willing to help you!

Good Luck!

[Crissy327]

My local UDA office said you had to wait 2 years. You got yours before then?

They said the follow FHA guidelines. Where did you go to get your USDA loan? Maybe I could just talk to them instead? I live in North Carolina. Thanks for helping out.

[DeadManCrawling]

Folks,

Depending on where you live, there are INCREDIBLE bargains in real estate these days. Now, I don't mean to sound like a late-night infomercial about how to get rich in 2006, but it is true.

Across Florida, you can buy condos, decent ones, for 10k. Thats right-TEN GRAND.

Personally, I would NOT buy a condo. There are so many that the price has been driven into the ground. But, since there are so many foreclosures, the condo fees have skyrocketed. When 90% of the place is in foreclosure, they HAVE to raise fees, since the hard costs of maintenance and insurance are NOT dropping.

However, there are HOUSES here to be bought for 15k on the low end. 30k, in our neck of the state, gets you something you can move into the same day and live just fine. I have seen some rather luxurious places at 50k.

My point is this: Look around. You may be surprised. And if your credit is shot, but you don't have enough to pay ALL cash, there are many alternatives.

Just be very careful that you don't end up on the same road that brought us all together on the bk forum.

best,

-dmc