Is it a hard 2 years after 7 if you have never had a mortgage?

[Silver26]

We discharged in 10/10, We have never had a mortgage. We are looking to buy a house around 130K max. Income is around 70K not including bonuses. My wife is a nurse so her job is as stable as it comes. We have one car loan with about 3K left and a student loan that is 15K. We have 2 capital one cards that are at a zero balance right now that we have just been using for small things and then paying them off. Within about 90 days we are expecting to have at minimum 10K for a down payment. Any advice would be appreciated! I'm assuming we should talk to a mortgage broker?Any advice on where to find a good one? Do we have a chance at getting approved before 2 years? Thanks!

[HHM]

Yes, it is a hard 2 years.

Unless, you can demonstrate some sort of special circumstances that caused your BK; but good luck finding a mortgage broker that even knows about "special circumstances" let alone one that is willing to invest the time and energy.

For all intents and purposes, you will wait 2 years. Sorry.

[ksgirl38]

I've actually heard that you don't have to wait 2 years. I just had a consultation with an attorney yesterday and expressed the fact that I'm hoping to eventually buy a house and he said that there's no reason why I wouldn't be able to get a loan. The rate might be higher, but every case is different. You have a large downpayment amount and that's good. I would think your local brokers as opposed to the big name ones would be more likely to help you since you've proven yourself in the past 2 years. All the time I hear about people who are foreclosed on and are able to buy homes again so I wouldn't think it would be any different for you. Keep us updated, your situation sounds similar to mine.

[OneDay]

Check into FHA, from what I learned last year there rules are 2 years post BK without a foreclosure and 3 years post BK with a foreclosure.

[justbroke]

For a bankruptcy, the rules are pretty solid as most financing (non-conventional) is backed by a federal GSEs (Fannie, Freddie) or FDA, FHA, etc. Anyone who tells you that you'll be able to "easily" get another home "shortly" after filing bankruptcy... is smoking something. These are probably the same people who coaxed people into taking on 3/1 ARM mortgages back in 2007/2008 while telling them that they could "easily" refinance in 6 months to a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage.

Unless you are speaking with an underwriter (not a loan officer) at a bank or one of the GSEs, then you aren't talking to the source. HHM and I will certainly agree that there are some "exceptions" but they are so far and few between, that it is almost not worth mentioning. In any event, "seasoning" is the word of the day, and your bankruptcy needs to be well seasoned or "pre-seasoned" (an exception).

[tobee43]

For a bankruptcy, the rules are pretty solid as most financing (non-conventional) is backed by a federal GSEs (Fannie, Freddie) or FDA, FHA, etc. Anyone who tells you that you'll be able to "easily" get another home "shortly" after filing bankruptcy... is smoking something. These are probably the same people who coaxed people into taking on 3/1 ARM mortgages back in 2007/2008 while telling them that they could "easily" refinance in 6 months to a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage.

Unless you are speaking with an underwriter (not a loan officer) at a bank or one of the GSEs, then you aren't talking to the source. HHM and I will certainly agree that there are some "exceptions" but they are so far and few between, that it is almost not worth mentioning. In any event, "seasoning" is the word of the day, and your bankruptcy needs to be well seasoned or "pre-seasoned" (an exception).

jb and hhm are correct on this unfortunately. however, do not leave a conventional mortgage out after a bk. everyone is quick to jump to the FHA or some type of government backed loan. remember they are NOT the only source. ONLY the ones many of us are use to. so broaden your horizons!

honest, or believe me when i say, government backed loans are soon to become loans of the past.

[MsKMG86]

I have to agree with the 2 year rule as I just started the prequal process (today 6/12/12) with my mortgage loan counselor. As soon as she pulled the credit report and saw my Ch7 Discharge 6/8/11 she stated have to wait 2 years it would be almost impossible to get me financed directly at this time. Her best advice as I asked what steps do i need to take until 06/8/2013 to keep me on track to get approved, in which she responded....Continue to pay all bills on time, NO COLLECTIONS POST BK as it extremely hurts approval chances since the goal is to be re-established in credit post BK and to also try to save at least 6 months savings/reserves (that amount varies on what you are trying to qualify) The best recommendation is if you can afford a mortgage payment of $1200 a month then show proof of that via savings so expected savings/reserve mininum for the example is minimum $7200. So now I am actually preparing to stay in line with my goal now of 6/8/13. Of course, i was bummed about the news as I thought i could get a home this Fall but I'm glad that I know what i need to do and that it's not denied just delayed. HTH.