New to the board and could really use some expert advise

[YankeeClipper]

I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I will cut to the chase as I have a few questions but I will lead with this has been a very humbling experience for us. In 2017 my wife owned a business that for legal reasons I wont get into went under. Although she ran it everything was in my name. There was a loss of income that led to us defaulting on our credit card and auto loan debts as well as a foreclosure on our home that concluded in February 2019. Overall we have about 125k in debt.  About 75k of it is with collection agencies. The rest appears to be (based on my cbr) with the original creditor or if it is with a collection agency is not being reported by them. The majority of these collection and charged off accounts will hit 7-7.5y from last payment in 2024 or early 2025.  We currently rent and would like to own a home again. I have a good job. My annual compensation has averaged 125k+ the last three years. Bonuses can account for anywhere from 25-30% of that total but are consistent and verifiable. The middle score of my  FICO 2, 4 and 5 is 571 or 9 points from being at what I understand is the minimum score needed for a FHA loan and what would be a manageable 3.5% down payment. I have a few questions for the board:   

• Based on the above would we even qualify for a FHA loan with those collection/charge off accounts and foreclosure?  If we would not qualify now would we possibly qualify any time before the end of those accounts aging off my cbr?
• Are we better off trying to negotiate with our creditors and their collection agencies to pay this down before attempting to get a home loan? Our concern is I don’t see any way we work something out on all these accounts before they would age off my cbr. Would that possibly extend the statute of limitations on these debts making it even harder – and longer – before we could consider buying a home?
• If the advise is to pay them off would it make a difference if they were PIF/SIF as far as the impact on my cbr as it relates to trying to get a home loan?
• What should I do if enough creditors/collection agencies refuse to SIF and it is impossible to pay these off before they would age off my cbr? Is this now just a waiting game for them to come off my cbr?

Again, this has been quite a humbling experience. We really feel like we have gone from the penthouse to the outhouse the last few years while dealing with bouts of optimism and then resignation that things may never get better. Thank God we are starting to come out of it. However, I am getting older, have two disabled members of our family who live at home and are totally dependent on me to survive. I am just looking for help on whether we should even consider trying to buy a home (or if it is even the right thing to do) or what options we have. Thanks in advance for any assistance and I enjoy the encouraging posts I read about so many others who have had similar experiences and come through it to regain their credit and financial health once again.

[Revelate]

Find out when the statute of limitations on those run out (it's state by state), just because it's off your credit report doesn't mean it's out of your life in terms of a debt that must be disclosed in the mortgage process. 

I'm not an expert on this unfortunately, but if you have a bunch of outstanding debts that could be taken to court for a judgement and therefore attached as a lien on any house you own... that's a big red flag in the mortgage process.  Probably back in the day you should've tried to negotiate with them and if you couldn't do that, filed Chapter 13 BK and forced a repayment plan over 5 years: don't do that now with the debts likely soon to be uncollectible if they aren't already.

Personally I hid out until I could get out from under my own albatross, got my credit score up to snuff, and went and bought a place and F'n zero regrets.  If I could've done that earlier so much the better, but I would've had to have addressed the issues first.  

[TXPocohontas]

I agree with @Revelate.  I appreciate that you are trying to help your family but if you paid on the debts that have already been charged off, it wouldn't help your credit much.  Since we do not know what state you are in, you are wise to check on the statue of limitations for your state (just Google it).  Your score still needs some work so you are not ready yet anyways.  Though it sounds like you on a great track to being there right when these debts fall off.  I was in a similar situation a few years ago.  It is frustrating having to wait out something to fall off your credit, but man is it worth it!  

On this forum, people talk about gardens, planting seeds and watching their gardens grow.  Yours is regrowing after a tornado struck.  You have time to nuture your credit to be prepared.  Be patient and watch it grow.