We have no debt. We have a bit if a down payment saved up (not a whole lot) and we are enthusiastically adding to it. Dh has a really solid, stable, good job which he has been at for almost four years.
The problem is our credit. DH went through a period of unemployment 5 years ago and we racked up some debt at that point and still had some outstanding debts even as recently as a year ago. This was mostly due to our stupid oversight-- we had paid off most of our debt but forgot about some debts that had gone to collections and they were continuing to affect our credit the whole time. So depressing. But we are all 100% paid up now for about a year now. The thing is, our credit scores were so low. Mine is still under 600.
We haven't checked DH's yet, but I'm sure it's about the same.
I want to know if there is any way we could fix our credit enough within the next year to buy a house. We have never been irresponsible or just charged tons of stuff we couldn't afford. We were just trying to pay bills and feed our family. We have done our best to dutifully pay our debts for years now.
And the neighborhood we are in is so crime-ridden, it's disgusting. We have two drug-dealers on our floor of the apartment building alone-- that's the scariest thing. There was a syringe found in the grassy area that my children play in, and one of the neighbor girls was DTD on the children's playground. We hear verbal and physical abuse in neighboring apartments. the neighboring apartment building was recently vandalized and destroyed necessitating complete evacuation. I could go on and on. We want to get out of here and into a modest home of our own.
We would be first-time home buyers and our income would qualify us for state home-buying programs, but I don't know what they need the credit to be. If it wasn't for our credit, we could move next month. If I have to wait a year, we can do that, but I don't know how much we have to bring our credit up, or how long that will take.
The problem is our credit. DH went through a period of unemployment 5 years ago and we racked up some debt at that point and still had some outstanding debts even as recently as a year ago. This was mostly due to our stupid oversight-- we had paid off most of our debt but forgot about some debts that had gone to collections and they were continuing to affect our credit the whole time. So depressing. But we are all 100% paid up now for about a year now. The thing is, our credit scores were so low. Mine is still under 600.
We haven't checked DH's yet, but I'm sure it's about the same.I want to know if there is any way we could fix our credit enough within the next year to buy a house. We have never been irresponsible or just charged tons of stuff we couldn't afford. We were just trying to pay bills and feed our family. We have done our best to dutifully pay our debts for years now.
And the neighborhood we are in is so crime-ridden, it's disgusting. We have two drug-dealers on our floor of the apartment building alone-- that's the scariest thing. There was a syringe found in the grassy area that my children play in, and one of the neighbor girls was DTD on the children's playground. We hear verbal and physical abuse in neighboring apartments. the neighboring apartment building was recently vandalized and destroyed necessitating complete evacuation. I could go on and on. We want to get out of here and into a modest home of our own.
We would be first-time home buyers and our income would qualify us for state home-buying programs, but I don't know what they need the credit to be. If it wasn't for our credit, we could move next month. If I have to wait a year, we can do that, but I don't know how much we have to bring our credit up, or how long that will take.
) Overall, though, cash assets were not nearly as important for the re-fi process this time around as they were in the past. Credit scores were FAR MORE important (unfairly so, IMO) and the loan-to-value ratio was critical as well. Most people who apply these days cannot get past the application process (credit check). The appraisal process was the next big hurdle, but those exact market issues won't apply to you as a first-time homebuyer. (These had to do with the average homeowner not knowing the real value of his/her home in today's market combined with timing of original purchase and type of loan. All the interest-only loans done during the boom are seriously crushing people now.)
They are already helping us build our credit with a loan where we gave them the money and then we make monthly payments into a savings account. I can't remember exactly how it works but basically we wind up paying them interest for our own money, but in the long run it will be very good for our credit score. I haven't sat down and talked with a loan officer there, that's a very good idea. We will do that and also talk with the attorneys. Apparently some attorneys specialize in challenging items on the credit score and can have amazing results. I think we will do that next, to gather more information. Thanks for your insight. 
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