RENT or BUY After Bankruptcy????

[aless01]

My husband and I have court tomorrow Chapter 7. We have foreclosed on our old house and are staying with family and trying to save money for a new place. What should we do, Rent or Buy??? What will we need to do??? How much money should we save??? How soon can we get a mortgage after our court date, which is tomorrow??? Where should we go or who should we talk too?



Some more info about us . .
We would rather buy than rent.
We live in Michigan.
We have never stopped paying our cable/internet bill, phone bill, car payments, & insurance bills. Hence, this would show some good standing on our credit reports.



Thanks in Advance

[HHM]

First off, if you have a court date, that is probably your 341 meeting, which means you are still 2 months from discharge, and therefore CANNOT buy until you receive your discharge.

After discharge, you should probably rent. With a foreclosure, and BK, unless you have 10% down, no one will probably lend to you. Rent, save money and buy in a year or 2 from now.

[hereforinfo]

I don't think banks will give you a mortgage until at least a couple of years past bankruptcy/foreclosure. And you are going to need a pretty big down payment and closing costs. Credit is tight right now, and people with perfect credit are having trouble getting loans, so you can imagine how unlikely it would be for someone in your situation to secure a mortgage.

[DisneyGirl]

I agree with the other posters. Rent first and rebuild. Wait a minimum of two years and build up not only savings for down payment and closing but also additional savings for living expenses. Best of luck to you!

[moneytree]

i replied to your post in the ch7 section, i believe it was...

you shouldn't double post

tisk tisk...

[aless01]

you shouldn't double post

tisk tisk...

YES I know but it is hard to get a response from this forum, lol. Plus I wasn't sure where to put the question.


Thanks everyone for your input. How do you think the market will be at this time?? In two years I mean. A buyers or a sellers market??? Also how much money do you think we should have saved to put down on a new home. I am in school and my husband works for ford on the line building trucks. Right now he brings home around $850 a week. We obviously don't have much money. I should be done with school in a couple years and then will contribute to our income.

[StartingOver08]

We really don't know where the market will be in two years. Considering what is going on right now with the number of foreclosures and BK's and the impending wave of defaults expected over the next 12 to 24 months, we probably will still be in a buyers market. However, remember, real estate is local. What represents a good deal in Palm Beach is not a good deal in Houston (as an example). So keep to your plan to save money so you have a decent sized downpayment and track the market as you get closer to your goal of graduating and getting a job.