What a journey.
I did not think it was possible for me to buy a home, but while browsing the internet looking for ideas on how to build my credit, I came to this forum. I decided to look into getting a USDA Guaranteed loan because I was hovering around the 640 mark. I saw a condo that I really, really wanted and went to see a broker. The first broker that I saw said they couldn’t get me a mortgage because they wanted a 660 for the Guaranteed Loan and then my Realtor got me another LO after that who said it shouldn’t be a problem to get me a loan. I’ve been at the same job for over 13 years, steady salary, and credit history was more short than anything…but my skeleton in the closet was my overdrafts in my bank account. I had a handful of them with no real good explanation.
Anyway…as the process went on, this LO told me that I had to get my score to 660 as well…it was my fault that I didn’t know that because she sent an e-mail that I didn’t read (really early on) and at this point, I didn’t have the money to pay off credit cards, etc. I was supposed to close on February 18th at this point. I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to work out and would be denied in UW. So, I decided to jump ship and go to the USDA Direct as I was able to qualify based on my income. I live in Connecticut and the low income for some of the areas really isn’t all that low. That being said, the USDA had funding and have been nothing but wonderful. I went in there with my contract, and all of their required documents.
It’s been quite a journey though…the USDA had to do their own appraisal and the appraisal came in low. I had to contest the appraisal and used for evidence the appraisal that the first LO had gotten – it was $10,000 higher than the one the USDA got. The USDA ended up saying that the best case for me was them giving me a mortgage for only the amount needed for the loan. They, surprisingly, waived all repairs that were needed. The repairs were pretty minor, but am quite surprised they did that actually.
So, my closing had been extended to March 5th, but the USDA was only able to commit the funds last Friday. They said that I should be able to close by the 14th of March, but the bank that owns my property said that they will charge me $50 per day if I go past the March 5th deadline. My attorney contacted the USDA and the USDA pushed the loan right through and this morning I got my clear to close for Friday, March 7th.
It’s been so stressful and many times along the way, I thought it wasn’t going to happen. I don’t even know how I managed to pull this off to be honest. I will be paying the same amount as my rent and will leave in a beautiful town in Connecticut.
Thank you, MyFico! And trust me that if I can do this, anyone can…it just requires not giving up.
