How much mortgage can I expect?

[Ljeen]

Hello, first time poster here...love this site!!  Here's a story for the build up.

Okay, I know I'm in the right place asking this.  In and around a year, I plan on applying for a mortgage, depending on how high I can get my score up which is pretty low right now. Due to being layed off a few months to getting married and missing payments like crazy on 4 accounts. 

I am in the process now of clearing everything off because they have gone to collections except for 2 credit cards which are in good standing and I will keep as 2 trade lines.  These items will be paid in full in a few months.  

I'm married and my husband makes just a bit below me but his credit file is a mess because of my situation and having to use his credit cards as income, he has not been able to keep up with the payments and several accounts are in collection.  

I will be the only one applying for this mortgage once my score gets around 640 to 660 because I will be in a much better situation and my debt to income will be about 5 to 10%.  I will owe very little except what I pay on my two small cards.   My monthly gross income is 43 to 4,400 a month.  I get a decent condo with 2 bedrooms I will need 215 - 220,000 to borrow with 10,000 down.   I've done this online calculators and they are telling me I would be eligible for 150,000.    Unacceptable! That's a 1 bedroom coop (never a co-op) if I'm lucky.   I can easily afford a mortgage in the 215,000 range and even though my husbands salary of 41,000 cannot be counted he will still be there to share expenses like a roomate if you will. 

Can I do this with just me?  I'm hoping I won't have to wait longer then 18 months. 

Sorry for the long post.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes you find out that you can't just jump above your head....if your income and debt to income ratio, FICO score, life situation cannot support your purchase, then maybe it's time you evaluate other properties in other areas of town. Sometimes you can find better deal without stretching yourself too much financially.

Good luck.

[Ljeen]

I didn't say I would be stretching myself thin, I have no children and never will and work for a Fortune 500 company.  I know what I and my husband can afford.  We live in NYC and are looking in New Jersey so we can get to work in midtown in less then an hour and half.  If I look at other properties in other areas then the 3 towns that have the cheapest Condo's, then I'd be taking my life in my hands if you know what I mean.  You can't get any cheaper then where I plan to live and still live with Humans.   $210,000 is expremely low for any property where I live. A co-op apartment comes with a maintenance of $800.00 extra a month and FHA doesn't insure co-ops anyway if choose that route.

A Condo association fee is around 150 to 250.00 per month.

I was really trying to get feedback from a mortgage person here.

PS, as I mentioned in my first post, my score will be around 640 to 660 or higher by the time I do this and I also mentioned that I will have NO debt. 

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Stick around...I think the mortgage guys are all on vacation in hawaii.....since all the mad scrilla they are making...It's gonna get busy monday.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

---

Ljeen wrote:

I am in the process now of clearing everything off

...

I'm married and my husband makes just a bit below me but his credit file is a mess

...

I will be the only one applying for this mortgage once my score gets around 640 to 660

...

My monthly gross income is 43 to 4,400 a month.

...

I get a decent condo with 2 bedrooms I will need 215 - 220,000 to borrow

...

my husbands salary of 41,000 cannot be counted

...

Can I do this with just me?  I'm hoping I won't have to wait longer then 18 months.

---

My FICOs are 20+ points below yours (or were when I got approved), my annual income is a little below that of your's and your husbands combined, DW is a non-working stay at home Mom, and we got approved for $350K and $0 down with ease. We're going to closing the 28th.

I think including your husband's income and setting about improving his credit is the best course of action. It's been my experience that most people believe either their credit is bad or pristine. It's almost never pristine, but it's also almost never as bad as they suspect.

Every situation is different, but there's a good chance you do NOT have to wait 18 months. Mine and DW's median FICOs have climbed over 50 points since April. We started with 2 CCs, $5500 total CL, $5000 CC debt. Today we have between us 14 CCs and 1 charge card (AMEX Green), $34K total CL, and about $1200 CC debt.

Don't close ANY CC accounts--yours or his. You can "load balance" debt to get util down.

On lates, GW. On collections and chargeoffs, PFD. If it's an AU account and adverse, dispute it off with the CRAs.

[Ljeen]

Noah, thank you for actually reading my post and giving me a serious answer.  That was very helpful and gave me alot of hope. 

All the best to you.

[Anonymous]

Also sit down and talk with a mortgage broker. Bring MyFico CRs for both you and your husband. When DW and I met with our broker, I printed off our CRs as well as the My Purchases page showing all 3 FICO scores. The My Purchases page was the main thing our broker looked at, and she was very impressed seeing the most important info (3 FICO scores) all on one page.

If the broker won't talk to you based on copies of your CRs that you pulled, find another broker. They'll have to pull your CRs once you get ready to get pre-approved and go seriously househunt. But they should be able to talk with you, give you some very good estimates and real world numbers. They should also be able to look at the CRs and point out things that will or will not be a problem.

Conventional wisdom says you won't get a prime loan with unpaid collections. DW and I are getting our loan from My Community, which I suppose is semi-prime, and we have an unpaid but paying on collection. It's reporting that it's being paid per the terms of a written agreement, so we didn't have to PIF the collection in order to get the loan.

[Ljeen]

Noah, that's great!  I hear about MyCommunity all the time.  Do they request that you live in a certain area? I'd like to know more.  Worst case senario if I have to do this on my own with 53,000 per year and no debt, I hope to qualify for at least 220,000 or even better.   

[Anonymous]

As far as I know, My Community is a FannieMae program and it's available nationwide. A broker can give you all the details about it or some other product which might be better for your situation. Ask whether the broker is certified to do FHA loans. You want someone who can do FHA loans because that will give you that option, and in some cases FHA is the best choice.

[Ljeen]

I read the MyCommunity also does Co-ops which FHA will not insure a loan for incase I have to that route instead of a condo.  They also have an option for 40 year loan and that is quite appealing which means I just might be able to borrow more and keep my payments in check.

Now to find a good broker in New York/New Jersey.  Thanks!!