foreclosure to closing

[Isanham]

I am looking for your success stories in getting a new mortgage after foreclosure.  How long did it take?  How difficult was the underwriting process?  What were your FICO scores upon success?  What kind of mortgage did you get (FHA, VA, conventional, etc.)?

I had a foreclosure in January, but am making solid progress towards rebuilding my credit. I am realistic enough to know that waiting and rebuilding credit are my best bet right now, but would like to have some idea of how long and where my credit needs to be to apply.  I'm hoping your stories can help put that into perspective.

Thanks!

[leesa88]

The minimum for an FHA loan is 3 years after foreclosure to re-qualify for a mortgage. Good luck! Looks like you are making great progress on your scores already.

[Anonymous]

How long did it take? 

My foreclosure was from July 2006. My husband had little credit history and we also had a problem with Equifax for the past 5 years. Initially they were showing his brother's credit history as his. Then they deleted his entire credit profile. This was after spending years trying to correct, sending credit reports, loan info, identification, etc from other creditors and bureaus. Finally had it corrected in July 2012 (after our preapproval). I also had a charge off and 2 medical collections from that same time period so mine was a bit more complex. We have been working on our credit since 2006 and saving for a downpayment for the past 3 years.

We originally started looking hard at what we would need to do about 3 years ago. At that time we were told it would be 7 more years until we could buy because of the foreclosure. We put ourselves on a strict budget, put money away for a downpayment FIRST each month, looked at cost saving options (like getting rid of cable tv, etc). With the changes going on in the housing market we decided to look at how we were doing towards our goal of homeownership in June.

How difficult was the underwriting process? 

The underwriting process was not too difficult. We had to do several LOE for the negative credit items (charge off and medical collections that we paid) as well as a LOE for foreclosure. Other than that the underwriting was rather simple - W-2, bank statements, etc.

What were your FICO scores upon success? 

We were preapproved on June 6th, found a house and offered on 6/28 (offer accept on 7/3) and closed on 8/1/2012. Our FICO scores were: 625/654/683 (mine) and 689/721/719 (husband).

What kind of mortgage did you get (FHA, VA, conventional, etc.)?

FHA with 3.5% downpayment - new construction with builder upgrades (approx 30K) and about 8,400 in closing costs covered.