Since this forum has helped me out tremendously during my process of trying to obtain a USDA Guaranteed Loan while self-employed I will share my experience. My wife and I decided we wanted to start looking for our first house in January. At the time my middle credit score was a 620. I knew I had to make some major lifestyle adjustment in order to pay off my credit card debt. I was utilizing 95% of my credit so I knew all I needed to do to get my score up was pay down my revolving debt. Unfortunately that requires money!!
Somehow I was able to come up with all the money necessary to pay my credit cards off by the end of April. My credit score slowly went up every time I made a payment. On April 29 it skyrocketed to a middle score of 727 after I paid off my last card!! I was ecstatic especially since the first Loan Officer I spoke to in February said since I was self-employed my score should be around a 700 to increase my odds of being approved.
We went under contract on May 1st (closing date is scheduled for the end of June), this is when alllllllllll of the headaches began. I finally finished preparing all of the documents for my bank so on May 6th I put in an application. Finished inspection on May 8th, appraisal received on May 14, received a call on 18 requesting some more financial document and on May 20th off too underwriting! I received an email of what seemed like a book on May 22th from my loan originator requesting a crap ton of documents that the underwriter needed! I finally finished getting everything together on May 27th and was sent back to underwriting. I received a much needed email from my loan officer on May 31 saying my file had been forwarded to USDA! Since then I think I have called the update phone line a few hundred times just hoping to hear my date!
Still keeping my fingers crossed!!
