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I had a large tax bill and signed up for aggressive installment payments. Then I was struck with a massive vet bill and unfortunately now have paid about $6k in funeral expenses. I now calculate negative monthly cash flow for three months and my savings is tapped out. I have 35% LTV so can get home equity out but it’s complicated by a few things and I expected minimum of 8 weeks to get a lump sum to correct problems. I also have kids to support and car repair looming. I would like to ask lender to defer mortgage payment 60-90 days at which point I could resume payments and make a lump sum catch up payment in February 2023. Has anyone ever request payment deferral? Forbearance? It’s an FHA loan but I’m below 78% LTV and PMI is gone now.

Hello CB family, Long time not posting hoping y'all doing great. My mother in-law is selling one of her houses in Southern California and she asked me if someone I know might be interested and I thought It might be a good investment option to buy her house and rent it out. So assuming this idea is good enough how should I proceed? do we both go thru the same Loan Officer, Lender, Realtor, etc.. The house price based on Zillow/Redfin/Realtor/Opendoor is averaging $440K and I have my own house already that I pay mortgage on it. I appreciate your input everyone.

Hello CV and everyone, Wanted your brutal opinion because I am in the process of refinancing my FHA loan and just received the loan closing disclosure (CD) today but wanted to know if I'm doing the right thing and/or its worth it or Not. My current FHA loan as follows: Appraised Property Value $400K Current Loan interest rate is 3.25% (closed this loan 13 months ago) Original Loan Amount $393K Current Principal Balance $383K (30yrs loan and nearly 29 yrs left). Loan Maturity date 08/2049 Current Monthly payment $2400 (Principal $671+ Interest $1,038 + Escrow $690) VS. My FHA refinance loan will be as follows: Appraised Property Value $400K New Loan interest rate is 2.75% Original Loan Amount $387K Principal Balance $387K (30yrs loan). Loan Maturity date 11/2050 New Monthly payment $2391 (Principal + Interest = $1,582 + Escrow $542 + PMI 267) Cash to close from borrower (me) $2089 Thank you all for your feed back.

Hi Folks - I'm scheduled to close on a new construction home 8/30. The kids start school here in MD on 9/3. They enroll in new schools and I want to get them settled as much as possible. That background might come in handy for the scenario that I'm seeking advice on. Here's the scenario: purchase price is $439,540. I'm currently doing an FHA loan with 3.5% down. My mortgage credit score is 726. The loan estimate has me paying $300 month in PMI. The issue is that in October I get my yearly sales bonus; at that time I can put down the ~$90K needed to cover the 20% down payment to remove PMI. Questions for those experienced in the industry: 1. Should / can I delay closing for two months? If so should I go conventional? 2. Should I move forward with the FHA loan and refinance quickly? How soon can one refinance? 3. Should I move forward with the FHA loan and simply pay $90K on the principal of the loan and reduce the amount to have PMI removed? Thanks for your help in advance.

I had a business from 2012 that I shut down. I've been diligently paying off the debts associated with the business -- credit cards in the buiness name that I PG'd. These do NOT report to my personal credit report. But there was a period in 2012 when the business was having difficulty that I was late a couple times, since resolved but here's my question: Since these do not show up on my personal CR, do i need to report them when applying for a mortgage? I'd prefer not to since the remaining balance owed is about $15k. I'm still paying it down, but would really like to buy a house this year, as early as this summer. I'm just concerned that these will affect my DTI. Not asking anyone to suggest I commit fraud by not reporting, just curious how they would know about them since they are under a business name that I no longer operate? And will the lates on those affect my rates? I have $20k for a down payment (FHA loan, 3.5% down). Should I just pay off the debt first with that then start over again saving for the down payment? Our combined income is $150k, debts are: $600 car notes (2 cars) $100 student loan $500 personal debt payments (credit cards, not including business) $500 month business credit card payments (paying more than the minimum) Lowest FICO score 670 but will probably increase since spouse just paid off all their credit cards (and his other two are in 700s) Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated.

All, I just closed on an FHA 203k loan to rehab my primary residence. Total loan amount is $647,000. I got an interest rate of 3.875 and an APR of 4.250 and zero points. I have a credit score of 650-660 and my wife is all above 720. She makes 110 a year and I make 100. My main loan guy told me don't worry about the APR. In 6 months I can do an FHA streamline to get my payments reduced by $511/month (He said that was if we refi at an interest rate of 4%. I am not sure if the MIP is included, I think he said we get a refund from the unused MIP in my current loan (Since I would be refinancing six months after getting the current loan, and the MIP is prepaid for the first few years of the loan) My question is, is it realistic to believe I can do an FHA streamline so soon after getting my current loan? I already had a regular FHA loan to buy the residence, so I have been paying the current loan on time for 3+ years, and these 6 months of payments are already paid so I will have almost 4 years of paying an FHA mortgage on time. Sorry if I sound confused :-) bunyan

Hi guys, Well, I've been trying to buy a house, I was shooting for a conventional loan but just found out that since I had a short sale I don't qualify for a conventional per new rules (funny, earlier in the year I was able to do conventional, who's making these rules? lol), lender said FHA will work. Is there any loophole that allows me to do conventional? If not I still want to see what you guys think about the numbers under my situation. This is my situation: - short sale in november 2011 - 680 credit score (thanks for advice was able to take out some disputes) - 130K price These are the numbers my mortgage person is offering under FHA: - APR: 5.472% - Finance charge 122,382 - Amount Financed: 123,982 - Total of Payments: 246,364 - Interest Rate: 3.875% - Principal and Interest: $600 - Estimated Taxes and Insurance: 534 Not happy about the upfront 1.75 MIP Fee, but next november I will qualify for a conventional so I might look to refinance if the rates look appealing. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I could wait and get another house maybe next november but with this house I could have roommates that will basically pay for all my expenses and the street has the space with just the right layout to accommodate all the cars, sweet! Thanks and Happy New Year!

Didn't find much info on prior mortgage experience through NFCU so I figured I would start a thread about my experience with the mortgage application/process. 7/3/2014 - Applied for primary residence FHA mortgage over the phone. Took about 25 minutes to complete. CS rep very nice (as usual) - Paid $11 application fee (this is per applicant) - Was informed I would be assigned a loan officer within 48 hrs. - Received an email from my assigned loan officer within 4 hours of completing application - Call LO and we went over everything. Told she should hear back from UW in 3-4 days (figured Monday since tomorrow they are closed) Hoping everything goes smooth with this process. Been 9 years since I did a home loan and a lot has changed (positive thing is interest is 1/2 what it use to be) Will update the thread as the process moves forward.

I want to buy a second home in NY area (would love to hear from those who can lend in NY) and here is my situation- hopefully it's all you need to offer opinions. 1. Own a home in Fl. with approx. 180k left on mort. Worth 280 but dont want to get second mort. since family member co owns. Total payments with prin, int, insur, taxes is $1400 monthy that I pay by myself- co owner doesn't live here. Plus I have $225 community dues monthly, no other regular monthly payments- no car loan or credit card balance- use debit card. 2. Net worth approx. 2 Mil but 500k is weird stuff...private RE partnerships, 1/3 of an insurance trust, etc- that I doubt banks would consider. Plus IRA of 70k. I don't want to pay all cash for second home because mostly in family partnership with siblings, but that I can get document full access and continuing payments from it 3. No earned income- retired. Excellent credit- 775 on Myfico which I think is the "real" Fico score. 4. I know there are "Asset Depletion" programs from having posted previously- I found a bank document online explaining how to underwrite these I estimate they would credit me about 1.1 mil. for my assets after applying 70% factor to stocks, and -if I recall- 70% to my IRA since Im under 59- Im 56. I figure at 1.1 Mil at 4% on 30 years I would get credit for approx. 6k for month as income under the banks standards(?) 5. I have read that FHA has looser standards for front end and back end ratios, including up to 50% or more on back end ratio and perhaps 45% on front end. I believe the mortgage payments on my primary residence would be consider part of the back end ratio when calculating for new mortgage on 2nd home. So by my calculations based on around $70k annual "asset depletion" income, approx. 1650 annual expenses- which is all due to existing home costs- and before new second home mortgage, and these higher ratios- 45% front end and 55% back end (if really available????) and a down payment of 50k plus on 250 second home, can I hopefully get close to the requred 200k mortgage?? I realize I am asking for something unusual between the higher ratios and the asset-depletion, but hoping someone on here can give some advice or is experienced enough to know how this would go. Thanks!

Hello, My husband and I have been patiently waiting to buy a home for years. We had a lot of obsticles that kept us from being where we needed to be that we have now overcome. We have been in a lease purchase for the past couple of years for a home that we will be purchasing for $250K and we have accured about 10K for the downpayment though we may be able to come up with a few grand more if needed to close. Here are our current issues: I am self employed & my spouse is on SS Disability. His income is non-taxable. Majority of my income is through a contractor position that I have held with the same employer for over 6 years now. After our accountant completed our income taxes this past year, I was concerned it might not appear that we make enough income to qualify. I currently bring in 60K per year for this contract posiiton plus another 5-10K in additional contract work. I have roughly 5-7K in expenses however, the way my home office is setup it is a large portion of our home and after they completed the home office exemption and household related expenses, my taxable income appeared to only be about 20K. Since the majority of the reasons my income looks so low is due to our home expenses which would be similar if we were to purchase the house, how would they look at my income for qualifying for a mortgage? Would they look at it before the home office exemption was used or after? Also, I have heard that SSD income is sometimes counted as more due to being non-taxable. Is that true? My spouses income from SSD is roughly $30K. I also wondered if being self-employed ended up causing too much problems if my employer ended up hiring me a a fulltime employee instead of a contractor if that would change the situation. We had discussed doing that as well anyways. I appreciate all of your input. I have been dreaming of being a homeowner for so long and we finally found our dream home that couldn't be more perfect for our children.

Hello, I was pre approved for house and bank just accepted my offer last week, I received notification today that credit score dropped 28 points ONLY thing changed was alert saying "credit usage significantly increased 45%" it takes me to 608 score which is below 620 needed with lender for FHA. Spoke to loan officer and said yes it could affect me closing on home. My inspection is tomorrow so I have time, I paid off card today to $0 balance. Do you think I will be OK come closing?

Hi CB'ers. For a brief back story, my credit journey started 4 months ago when I joined this site and I've enjoyed about 40 point increases on average for all three FICO scores since then. I'm shopping for a house in the spring (fha loan) and I need some advice to maximize my credit scores and clean up CRs in preperation. My 3 ficos were inthe 590-605s when I joined here now they're in the 640-650 range. I removed approx 9 lates/derogs, paid off 3 cc's to reduce my util to about 45% of 12.5k (still plugging away and plan to be below 20% by home loan app time), paid off 13k car loan, and got a big 15k private student loan CO settled in full to avoid being served. I have a goal to be between 660-680 (due to my ongoing credit repair laboring) by mid october and I'm fairly confident I can get there. What I have remaining is 2 small collections ($75 and $300) I'm in the processes of PFD'ing, have about 2-3 more lates I have evidence to dispute, and here's the kicker......3 more private loan COs all around +/- 2.25k/ea totalling 7k. Based on a settlement I already did with the same OC on the other CO, and letter correspondence with them over the last 6 months, I'm fairly confident I can settle on these last 3 loans for 55-70%. Any FHA borrowing homeowner knows getting an FHA loan with COs over $2k is going to be next to impossible. That said, I'm hoping to take out a personal loan to settle these COs and clean up my reports. I intend to pay off the installment loan over the next 3-4 years (it was a student loan I intended to pay anyway, so I don't mind and it's well within my budget) I have poked around the boards and read some threads on personal loan lenders. Places like Lending Club and Prosper seem appealing, but I would also be open to debt consolidation or settlement lenders If need be. Would anyone recommend Prosper or LC for my situation?

FHA greenhorn here in the midst of credit repair. I'm curious if my wife and I should start the FHA loan process or sit tight a year and give it a go next spring. Here's my scenario: -applying alone (wife only makes $20k a year and has signif. student loan debt) -fico: equifax 600 trans 594 experian 624 - my income 50k/yr ( have made this steadily for 4 years but recently was offered a new job that paid a little better so I took it. I've been employed for 4 months at new job. have bachelors degree) - my DTI 16% (fed loans of 60k and 1.5k in cc debt at about 8% util. Just paid all off this month from 65% util) - 19k of charged of private loan debt that was sent to collections and is now back to OC. Debt has been idle for 1 year. I have the money together to settle most of the private loan debt (15k worth) and intend to do so before September, OC made an offer which I verbally accepted. The remainder of the baddie I should have paid off by spring. I post this thread for two reasons: 1. I read some threads here from FHA applicants stating charge offs typically aren't considered into DTI ratio and factored little to none into approval process with some lenders, which makes me wonder if we should start the application process now as I know it will take quite a while. 2. I'd rather get honest experienced input from this excellent forum than waste the energy with a lender if we won't quite be ready financially until next spring.

Ok, so my FHA app went through the DU and came back Approve/eligible. I am terrified that I am going to get to the end and be denied. How often are they denied?? My credit scores are about 673 mid score- I have 3 medical collections ($200 total for all 3) and one old charge off from 6+ yrs ago. Also there are late payments reporting on my student loans from about a yr ago. I have 2 credit cards that I have had for about 6 months (paid in full each month) and I have had 2 personal loans in the past 2 yrs (PIF). Otherwise I dont have much history. My broker had me print the last yr of rent payments to add to the credit profile. My question is...how often are they approve/eligible and then denied in the end?? I am freaking out. I am told not to stress but I cant help it. I am so close and yet so very far away! Thanks

I'm almost done my chapter 13 plan and my mortgage guy thinks he will be able to get me approved for conventional financing. My credit has bounced back, I've got a steady job and income as well as a decent down payment. Has anyone here been able to qualify for conventional financing soon after a 13 discharge?

How does everyone feel about FHA loans? Any experiences? Any advice?

We are FINALLY ready to apply for a mortgage & hoping to do an FHA loan. Any suggestions as to where to apply for one? We've thought about Quickenloans and Vanderbuilt Mortgage. Mid score is 618

I was just pre-approved for an FHA mortgage (mid score 675), and hope to find a good house within the next month or so. Because my DTI is a bit high right now, I was only pre-approved for a $200,000 loan with 3.5% ($7000). I have been looking at some great houses, but most are just above the approval level. I have up to $30,000 in reserves to put as a down payment, but I also have about $9000 in credit card debt (I had some recent family medical emergencies that added up quickly). So my question is this: Does it make more sense to lower my DTI by paying down the credit cards with the reserve money, and put a smaller amount toward the down payment, or keep a larger down payment? Thanks in advance for the advice! ** BTW- I am about 2 years post-BK7 discharge, so FHA is my only option at this point.

I have been working on repairing credit and home searching for about five years. My credit was in complete despair after my divorce and so far I have paid off all the old debt except two things that are now judgments against me. One is for $5000 and the other is about $8000. The reason I haven't paid these is 1) I haven't had the money and 2) This was my exes debt and I felt like he should pay it. These items should be off my credit report in about a year and a half so at this point I am just playing the waiting game. I realize this makes me look bad but that is what I am doing. Everything else is paid off and I only have a student loan and a car payment now which total around $800 per month. My monthly income (with overtime which is consistent for several years) is about $4900. Questions: Can I get financed for a home with these two unpaid judgements on my credit? Can I go the FHA or USDA route? Any advice, information, tips and tidbits would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Dear Credit Boards- My wife and I are trying to approve for an FHA loan. Our loan broker states our middle FICO score is 630. I've been working with a credit repair company for a year now, and much progress has been made. My wife and I and our two children are trying to get an FHA loan (since we had a foreclosure in 2010) and their wait period is 3 years (compared to 7 for a conventional loan) - as I understand it. We have a 20% down payment on a $700k purchase price ready to go. My middle FICO is 630, and I need 640. My question pertains to a 2nd loan I have on a primary home which was then turned into a rental property. The first loan is an ARM at 3%, and the 2nd, if I recall correctly, was used back when I purchased the home as the 20%. I called the lender and confirmed that this loan is a "line of credit" rather than an installment loan. The balance is $20k, and the interest rate is 5.5%. The balance is $20,000 on a credit line of something like $22,000. Do the credit bureaus see this as a maxed out credit line and not as a 2nd on a loan? I read that this might be the case since the balance is less than $30k. Would paying this down to under 30% be beneficial to my credit score, and do you think it would move the needle around 10 points? I thank you very much for your advice! -RetireBy2024

I had a foreclosure 3.5 years ago. After the foreclosure my "20 HELOC" was not paid because the house was "under water". I want to apply for an FHA loan and my current credit averages around 650 and everything has been paid including the HELOC. My question is the the FHA time wait of 3 years start on the date of the foreclosure or when we paid off the HELOC. I keep getting different answers even from underwriters. One said if the HELOC was not paid though the foreclosure then it becomes unsecured debt just like a credit card and FHA goes only by the date of the foreclosure. Had another one tell me, no its from the date when the HELOC was paid off. Has anyone been though this similar situation? Just trying to get the right answer before we start the process. Thanks in advance

I have been curious lately how far lenders will go these days to approve a mortgage. It seems like they have tightened up lending based on what I read, but I wanted to share with everyone a case where a mortgage was approved and I truley did not think it would have been or should have been. This was not for me, but someone close to me and although I tried to talk some sense into her, you know how we can be when we want something- it doesn't matter at what cost or if it is wise. Here are the facts: Good credit score >720 2nd home purchase, 1st home is currently a month to month rental with maybe $15k equity- rental income was not used to qualify. Purchase price of new home $270,000 3.5% down, FHA loan Seller paid closing costs. DTI- 55% This person has a good job with longeveity and makes ~$90k per year. What gets me, is the DTI and what she had to do to get that DTI. I think a responsible underwriter would have not approved this loan, but maybe they don't see what I see and maybe in the end they just don't care. A year ago, she took out an unsecured loan for $30k to pay off a $20k credit card that she was over the limit on. She also had another credit card that was close to being maxed out at $20k. She paid off the 1st credit card and spent the remaining $10k of the insecured loan. She then proceeded to put another $10k on the credit card she just took a loan to pay off. So instead of reducing her debt as planned, she increased her debt by $20k. She decided to buy this 2nd home. To qualify at a 55% back end ratio, she had to pay off her credit cards. To do this, she took out a 5 year 401k loan of $42k which is half of her 401k. She paid off $30k in credit cards and used the remaining towards her down payment etc... Her payments back to herself with be roughly $750 per month for the next 5 years which is not calculated into the DTI. To close, she had to show proof that she closed the credit card accounts. She had already started charging on one of them (within 1 week of paying them off). When she called the credit card companies, she made sure she would be able to reopen the accounts once she closed on the house- which of course they assured her "yes", she can repopen her credit cards. She closed the accounts, provided her proof, closed on the house and has reopened her credit cards of $40k credit line. Obviously, the underwriter could see she had an issue with credit cards, but the condition she imposed was merely for show to make it look like she had been a responsible underwriter and reduced the risk on the loan. I have helped this person with her budget a year ago when she was drowning in debt and every bite she took was on credit. Just one month ago, she bounced a couple of checks, one of which was for $1000 for her rent! How could she get approved for an $1800 per month mortgage when she doesn't have the money to cover $1000 in rent? I know they looked at her bank statements- I thought they wanted to see that people can manage their money? I know lenders do not look at other things such as utilities, auto insurance and gas etc... which is great for some, but they have approved a loan that will give her $600 a month left per month to pay every monthly expense that does not show up on a credit report. And when her month to month renters finally move out, she will be negative $800 every month until she rents it again. Just as her history shows, her credit cards will absorb her cost of living until she reaches the limit again- then what? I guess with good income, a good credit score, and a 401k of $40k as reserves, you can get a mortgage with FHA up to 55%.

Is it true that starting this month (June) -- any FHA loans that are required to carry PMI - it will be for the life of the loan and will no longer drop off when there is enough equity in the home? That will mean 20% for everyone (new loans? refinancing? both?) down or 20% (or higher?) equity in your home to avoid it.

My current mortgage was IIB and not reaffirmed, I did not pay during my proceedings, as I figured I would walk away but later changed my mind. After d/c the loan issuer gave me an agreement (which did not put me back on the hook btw) just to pay my old payment with a little extra per month to cover the delinquent balance until that is paid - so I am basically paying to stay. I asked if I could refinance the existing loan - they said no because of the agreement, is this true? You can see my current scores in my siggy - but am I not able to do an FHA refi? I know I can't buy a NEW home until 2 years dc/3 years FC, but I just want to refi my current FHA to restart the 30 years which would include the delinquent balance from before and during my BK proceeding. Doing this would lower my rate and yes put me back on the hook for the home, but my rate was 4.75% and with the rates so low, I figured there had to be a way to do this.