HOW LONG BEFORE I CAN BUY A HOUSE?

[custombusa]

so usda is 3 years now. Did they change it for 2013 because i think it used to be 2 years.

[MovingForward_2012]

Yep, I filed a Ch 13 in 2005 and had to wait 2 years from discharge or when the 13 was deleted off of my CRs to qualify for a mortgage. So my 13 deleted before 2 years from discharge and I qualified then. I am currently on contract and my loan is in the underwriting process. I heard it is 4 years from discharge for a conventional...2 years for FHA. I think it ultimately depends on the lender. Now you can typically get a mortgage while still in Ch 13 but a lot of times it requires trustee approval. We have been waiting a long time as my 13 was discharged in Jan 2011 and I did a mortgage prequalify check in July and didn't qualify until Jan 2013 for an FHA. But since my Ch 13 was removed in Oct after 7 years, I applied in Dec and was preapproved. We are buying a new construction through the builder's lender and the mid score has to 660 or above for FHA (my mid score is 703). So the min credit score depends on lender. Even though FHA's requirement is a min of 580, most lenders will not approve a score that low because it makes it hard for them to sell the loan to Wells Fargo or some other big bank. I heard USDA will accept a score of 620 with no collections and a score of 640 with collections.

I want to emphasize that after BK, you need to be a model citizen. When my loan officer looked over my reports on Sat, he said if I had just ONE late, I wouldn't be qualified for the mortgage loan so make sure you ALWAYS pay on time after BK.