2 Year plan to prepare for a mortage

[Anonymous]

Hey,

   A little bit about my credit life. In June 2014, i applied for Ch 7 bankruptcy and it was discharged in October 2014. I learned about this forum in February 2016 and thus my rebuilding journey began. I got a platinum cap 1 card SL $500, 1 Quiksilver 1 SL $500 and one Credit one unsecured card $450 limit. I've been paying both cap 1 cards in full before statement cuts and letting credit one report less than 9% balance. I have a student loan for $16 that has no missed payments but just started repaying it 2 months ago when it was on a deferment previously. I have no accounts in collection, i have 2 satisfied judgements that were satisfied as part of my ch 7 bankruptcy and I opened up a $1000 5 year Cr builder loan from best bank 2 months ago that I'm paying on. So overall 3 credit cards, 1 student loan and one $1000 loan that i'm using to build my credit. My third statement cut on both my cap 1 cards and I CLI and have a $1500 Limit on both cards now. My plan is to continue paying everything on time and by June 2018 all of my derogatory accounts except for 1,000 statefarm credit union loan I defaulted on will fall off my record and that and my ch 7 bankruptcy will be the only negative things besides the satisfied judgements on my record. Currently my EXP Fico score is 652, Transunion is 603 and EQ is 600. I've never purchased a home and am looking to get my first home between June and July 2018. Currently my income is $40000 a year and will be purchasing a home with my gf whose income is about $50000 a year. Have no idea about her credit or scores but it's gotta be better than mine. My question is do satisifed judgements count against me when trying to get a FHA loan or will we make too much to get a FHA mortgage. Ideally, we want to get a $250k mortgage in Georgia and will hopefully have about $30k minimum as a downpayment. She owes about $16k in student loans currently also. Do we need to work on paying our student loans all the way off now over the next 2 years before we try to get a mortgage? Any other advice on my 2 year plan to get a mortgage would be helpful.

Thanks guys

[aussiesareforever]

Keep doing what you are doing!

Pay your bills on time every time. That is the single most important factor for credit building and mortgage preparation. Every single month. You technically have enough credit accounts open for underwriting so you are set to go.

In regards to paying off your student loans completely, it depends on what your debt to income ration (DTI) is. I recommend spending time reading through the mortgage boards cause I don't remember the specifics and you would get more information there. However in summary, the underwriters will want to ensure that you don't have other credit obligations that would impede your ability to pay your mortgage. If your student loan payments are only a small fraction of your income, then you are set to go. Otherwise, they might be a problem. Naturally, the underwriters look at the complete picture, so if your girlfriend has any other significant debt, that may reduce the amount of money you are able to borrow.

Nice job on rebuilding. Read a lot from here and be patient. It is really tempting to want to apply for a bunch of credit cards when you read things here. Be smart about it and don't do it because everybody else is. Stick to a budget and always ensure you have money in the bank to pay your credit obligations. Buying a house in 2018 is totally acheivable. Good luck!