topic When and where to start??? in Mortgage Loans

When and where to start???

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 23:49:25 GMT

Hello, I am wondering whether I am in a good position to start looking for my first home of I should wait a bit longer. I've been readnig up alot on the credit forums, but I am new to the mortgage side.

About my credit:

My scores are in my signature. I defaulted on student loans 7 years ago and it still shows in my CR as 180 PD. I am now current. I have a paid CO in from a WF card from 2007 and that will (hopefully) be removed from my history in July 2014.

Current Debt:

I have a car loan that hasn't shown up on my CR yet, they payment will be $295/month. I also have student loans in the amount of approx. $6k, the minimum monthly payment is $50 I think, but I always pay ~$150. I have a $500 balance on a CC and the minimum monthly payment is probably $25, but I plan to pay it off in about 3 months.

Income / down payment:

My household income is $87,000. We don't have much for a down payment since we just bought a car, but we can probably muster up $5k. I've been reading about down payment assistance programs that help first time home owners so I'd probably look into that.

My question is, credit wise should I star attending homeownership classes now and speak to a counselor? Or should I wait until the CO falls off my record so my score will improve? I want to do it ASAP because IMO my rent is way too high ($1500 for 1 bedroom) and that money would be much better used towards a mortgage.

Re: When and where to start???

tony46231 — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 21:04:16 GMT

Not sure what state you're in, but if you were in Indiana, you make too much money to qualify for downpayment assistance. Here it varies by county and the max income in the county I live in for a 4 person household to qualify for downpayment assistance is $53,500. The bigger your household the higher the income limit is, but even with an 8 person household, the max income is $70,650.

Re: When and where to start???

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:35:37 GMT

Thanks for the reply tony, I live in California and I my income is less than 120% of the area median income in SOME areas here.

I ended up attending a first time home owner's class this weekend and obtained a lot of useful information - that was the right place to start! Now they offered me a one-on-one counseling session and they'll help me figure out if I should go ahead and start applying now, or if I should wait until my CO falls off my CR.