Any real estate agent will tell you a good 1/3 of all the questions they field are mortgage related. The truth is, we are real estate professionals, not mortgage professionals, and most of us rely on the expertise of a mortgage professional to answer these questions for us. The home loan landscape is just as dynamic as the local Boise real estate market and it takes work to stay on top of the changes. I usually talk with Katie Crandlemire to keep me up to date, she’s amazing. Really, she is. And a hard worker.
In fact, I just sat down to talk with Katie and asked her about a recent call I got from a young lady (I’m not sure how young she was, it was a phone call after all) who wanted to know, “can I get a home loan after declaring bankruptcy?”. Good question. Here’s what I learned from Katie:
- If you filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you’ll need to wait a minimum of 2 years after your discharge date to apply for a home loan
- If you filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’ll need to wait a minimum of 1 year after your discharge date to apply for a home loan
- Both of those timelines are for a FHA loan, which has a more lenient timeline post-bankruptcy than other loans
Katie also brought up two other very important points during our discussion:
- You still need a good credit score, 580 minimum, to get a new home loan
- And you’ll need to have re-established open credit lines to assure the lender you can handle credit despite past problems
Call Katie today if you have any questions about getting a home loan after bankruptcy, 208.861-2555. Seriously. Do it.