05 Mar Can I buy a house if I went through a foreclosure or a short sale?
The answer to this question is yes, Yes, YES….all in due time of course. The real estate market is not the only thing bouncing back. Wall Street Journal even coined a new name for this type of buyer: The Boomerang Buyer. According to the Wall Street Journal approximately 729,000 foreclosed borrowers are now eligible to apply for an FHA mortgage and this number is going to hit 1.5 million by the early part of 2014. If you have gone through this gut wrenching process and are ready to hop back in the saddle of home ownership, there are some basic guidelines that you can follow. The following tables show you what some of the general guidelines are for buying again after a short sale or foreclosure.
| BASIC GENERAL GUIDELINES AFTER A SHORT SALE | |
| FHA | 3 years and 3.5% down or immediately if you were current on your mortgage at the time of the sale. |
| VA (Veterans) | 2 years |
| Conventional | 4 years with 10% down or 2 years with 20% down |
| BASIC GNERAL GUIDELINES AFTER A FORECLOSURE | |
| FHA | 3 years and 3.5% down |
| VA (Veterans) | 2 years |
| Conventional | 7 years or 3 years with extenuating circumstances such as loss of job or some other unpredictable, temporary event beyond your control. |
But let me make a little disclaimer…..every circumstance is somewhat unique and different, so keeping your credit in good standing and checking with a lender will give you more of an exact match for your needs. So how can you bounce back after a short sale or foreclosure, keep your monthly payments such as credit cards current and show that within your monthly budget you have cut back on your spending. Any of the Kurtz & Company agents will be able to help you navigate through this process and can set you up with a mortgage broker that can get you to the next step. And don’t wait, now is a great time to buy, the interest rates are extremely low coupled with housing prices, making it the best time to ever buy real estate. The last time interest rates were this low was in 1956! Hmmm….that sounds like another topic for a blog. Stay tuned!
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