It doesn't seem true yet because we haven't received the keys yet, but the biggest hurdles are finally over.
We close on Monday. Thanks to this forum, I've learned so much. It took a good two years to build our credit. The key thing was not being late on payments and paying down all our credit cards. It's a simple formula, but you have to include patience with it.
We applied on 2/23/13 and got preapproved with our LO on 2/24/13. I also had all our information (W2s, 2 months statement, past month paystubs, income taxes for 2011 and 2012, etc.) saved in PDF format to speed the process.
Saw the house we liked on 2/24/13 and signed the contract on 2/25/13. We had a delay of one week because we had three lenders fighting for our loan and we went with the one who gave us the lowest interest rate. It was such a great feeling! People use to turn us away, now they were wanting us. Our midscores were 706 (me) and 702 (spouse). We went with USDA guaranteed. Then we had another delay for a week to finally agree on the price.
A slip up was our lender's processor forgot to order appraisal. Appraisal didn't occur until third week which came back 16k lower. Took another week to agree on price. We would have to pay out of pocket for our additional upgrades we originally requested.
Our file went into underwriting and we had to provide letter of gift and provide proof of deposit and letter from bank.
Finally approved through UW, but file went to USDA two weeks ago. USDA cleared to close yesterday. HUD should be ready for Monday closing.
I'm exhausted but I know it'll be worth it at the end.
Thanks to everyone for their honest advice and stories to push us into improving our finances so we can purchase a house.
Starting Score: 529