HOME OWNER IN 2015 ...I THINK..MAYBE

[olive_oyl]

Here's what I'm working with after re-building with MyFico from scores around 485 in 2014

SCORES 558, 554, 535

NEGATIVES:

AD ASTRA - $973 , 11/14

IC SYSTEM - $713 , 03/13

CREDIT SYS - $662, 03/12

AARGON AGENCY - $296, 06/13

REGIONS - SETTLED C/O 

OPEN:

CAP ONE - 994/1000 - 35/mo

CAP ONE - 273/300 - 25/mo

1ST PROG - 285/300 - 35/mo

FINGERHUT - 170/200 - haven't received 1st statement

CAR LOAN - 9 MONTHS REMAINING, I am the co-signor but I make the payments at $455/mo - current - past lates 04/14, 07/14

STUDENT LOAN - $74/mo - current- past lates 60 days 6/14, 90 days 07/14, 120 days 08/14

INCOME 45, 676, FT 9 Years

I have a 401k but I don't have my recent statement.  I only recently started to contribute 3% each pay period

I am looking in Tarrant County single family, primary

I app'd because I was curious and I was told that I could possibly qualify for 140k

I app'd because I wanted to know where I stood mortgage wise.  I've been told it's quite different from traditional credit lines.  I was advised to pay down my credit cards , of course and to pay off Credit Systems for $662

Am I being advised correctly?  Am I on track to a mortgage in 2015?

I know I still have work to do.

[DallasLoanGuy]

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i doubt that you would qualify.

lates in the last 12 months

collection in the last 12 months

550 credit

maybe after paying of all credit cards..... but it is still iffy

[olive_oyl]

I understand I wouldn't be able to qualify with my scores as they are today.  The LO I spoke to suggested that I need to be at 640 with those credit cards paid down.  If I were to reach 640 in the next few months and those lates aged to 1 yr, would I even have a shot at a mortgage this year? I was and still am prepared to pay off those existing collections but he advised against it.  

[Erusidhion]

    Recommendation: Work on your Collections, Work on your Utilization. Don't get discouraged! You have everyone on this site to help you =)

    Those lates; even aged for a year will hold your score down. I had like 5 collections that were open between $200-500 and they were around 5-6 years old. They held my score down to a 540. BUT I didn't have any credit history either whatsoever within the last 10 years. The only bad thing about paying off old collections is they update the date of last activity which will drop your score even more. But at least you start with a clean slate and your score will only go up and up from here on.

    You need to see if you can negotiate a Pay For Delete with the Original Creditors (if they're willing to pull them back from the Collection Agencies/JDBs). If Original Creditor won't pull it back; negotiate with the Collection Agency/JDB. You'll usually only get a PFD if you Pay The Full amount and don't Settle. Some companies won't PFD and you'll have to make a choice to wait it out the full 7.5 years for it to drop or pay them in full and then Good Will them.

    If Good Will doesn't work, you could dispute with 'agreed to remove' option and maybe they won't respond to the e-oscar inquiry because it's paid in full and then it'll come off of your report.

    I think you're about 2-3 years out from a home honestly. It sucks but you should probably wait. If you get a mortgage at a low 600s, or even high 500s; you're going to pay thousands of dollars in more interest. Granted you could always refinance and that may be an option after a few years. It really depends on how fast you can get your credit score to recover.

    I am not the best person to give advice so hopefully someone else may chime in here. I personally recommend you to wait but that's what this site is for and what you wanted; opinions from everyday people that have been in your exact position before. I went from 540s to 720-730s in 6 months but I got lucky. Now with 0% utilization balances and tons of inquiries I'm hovering around 680s (my other scores haven't caught up yet due to paid down balances this month); hell I'll probably hit 700s in a month or so. If I can do it, so can you.

[Anonymous]

I don't know how much you are attached to that car but a payment that high is really hurting.  The min payment on my wife's 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI is only $300/month so hopefully you aren't getting too bad of a deal.  If you can refinance or downgrade that car you would be able to pay off your credit cards easier because just throwing the min payment at them will take forever.  Best of luck!

[wendlan]

I was looking to buy last summer but I had to take time and work on my credit report and spending. I am up about 50 points in the last 9 months and now qualify. I had to apply for  a secured credit card and then got a Capital One and a Barclay card. I had to pay 2 old collections I didn't even know I had. Recently in the last 3 months I paid every card down to 8 % and we finally got approved and we are now pending on a house. So it can be done but it takes time and work,study the rebuilding credit forum and follow their advice. I also needed $8000 in the bank for FHA loan on a house of $130,000. Also pull your mortgage scored here, mine were quite a bit lower than the fico 08 scores here. Now that my credit cards are at 8% usage the mortgage scores and fico 08 scores are much closer.

[olive_oyl]

Thank you everyone for the responses!  

I wallowed in my discouraged feelings for about 12 hours and I woke up determined.

I know for sure from the forums that all the CAs on my report will PFD.  If I refi the car now won't that drop my AAoA and score?

DHI has a program to help with "troubled credit".  I may check that out.  Not a credit repair but a tour guide to get you to the nicer side of things.

 I don't expect to be able to get approved next month but I do think that I could possibly by the last quarter of the year.  I've got high in the sky apple pie hopes.  I'm about to throw everything at this monster and defeat it

[frugalQ]

That's the spirit!!!! Good luck to you!!