I know nothing about homeownership...Impart your knowledge, please.

so. how do I go about getting a house? They are jacking my rent up 70 dollars at the end of my current lease, and The SO and I have decided that it's about time we start looking for a house.

Here is a little background. Neither of us have the greatest credit. (student loans, and credit cards) I am pretty sure mine is worse than hers, but mine is pretty poor. Nearly Sub-Prime at just over 600. Both of us have been gainfully under-employed for about 1.5 years in the same jobs with both of us receiving promotions. I was unemployed after college for a few months and that's when I racked up most of the credit card debt. (I moved to GA from economically depressed MI with an overdrawn checking account, a free car loaded with a boatload of worthless crap, and just enough gas money to get there. I think I had two hundred dollars in my pocket when I rolled into my dad's driveway. there was a while when I laughed at homeless people begging for my money. I told them that they had more than I did, because at least they didn't have NEGATIVE money.)

I still owe about 7 grand on student loans and another 6 on CC Debt.

We have until August to find a place, and I hope 5 months is enough time to find a house.

Our budget is somewhere south of 70K, so we are looking for foreclosures and HUD stuff. Preferably with some room for improvement, but with a solid foundation. I can do cabinets, fixtures, and appliances, but re-wiring, re-roofing, or anything might be too far out of my range. I HAVE to have a garage.

I am so worried about this whole thing, it has my stomach in knots. I find it hard to sleep at night.

Her folks will be helping with a down payment, and I may be able to talk mine into helping a little, but we should have a decent chunk saved by then. Hopefully at least 10% to put down.

I guess I am just asking for advice here...I don't have the faintest clue what to start with.

sorry for the rant. For the TLDR crowd, help me secure a mortgage.

I can't imagine interest rates being dramatically higher in say, two years, but who knows? I would compare your interest rate now to what you could get once you've improved your credit.

But then you're trying to predict the markets and we know how that works out.

But honestly if I was to do it for the first time again? I'd wait until I had little to no debt.

I don't know if I can do another two years of living in an apartment. I really want a back yard!

oh, and how do I find out my interest rate? Seriously, I have NO idea where to start...

I'd suggest sitting down with someone in the mortgage department of your bank or credit union and having an honest discussion about your income and outflows. You can see what kind of interest rate you'll be getting and where your payment will be on a $70k house.

Any pointers on doing that? Does it usually require an appointment? Is it a suit and tie affair or polo and pressed slacks? What questions do I ask?

It helps to have a mortgage broker or maybe help from a local credit union. Having a real person as a point of contact is incredibly reassuring, especially when things pick up close to a closing date. Also ask neighbors about buyer's agents they might know (one that JUST handles purchasing houses, not one playing both sides of the field). All along the way you're going to want some hand holding and, IMO, the risk of surprise closing costs and hidden fees far outweighs the small fee you'll pay to have some help in this process. Non-sleazy real estate people exist.

If you're getting help from parents, it's going to matter how that money shows up in your bank account. You don't want it to look like a gift or loan from them. I'm not suggesting you lie or do anything dishonest, but you probably want it to get there well in advance of trying to secure the loan.

If you're going to be expected to repay the parents, work stuff out in writing to help preserve your relationship with them.

If you're not married and aren't ready to commit to each other, serious reconsider going in together on real estate.

start with your local credit union. no fancy clothes required. as part of the process, they'll pull your credit report and they'll want to know your employment history. based on your income and (probably) your debt, they'll tell you what you can afford. it will be more than you can afford, LOL. ask whatever questions come to mind while you're talking with the loan rep.

srsly, go do this now, long before you start shopping for a house. do not find a house and then try to figure out how to afford it. find out how your situation stacks up, then bite the bullet and pay the extra $70 per month for another year and live as small as you can for that year. pay down your debt, and save for a down payment. you can do it.

Have you considered renting a house? Or maybe a lease option?

I wouldn't just go to the credit union. I've been through mortgage brokers, credit unions and banks - and the bank has proven to be the most affordable and hassle-free option. I actually walked out of my first closing with the mortgage broker because he was screwing with me. But regardless, they're used to dealing with newbies so just walk in looking like a reasonable human being, lay your cards on the table and ask your questions.

Second on the suggestion to get the name of a good dirt pimp from a friend.

For the basics of the payment etc, start here: http://www.mortgagecalculator.org/ I figured you at a $70K house, 10% down, 5.75% interest and the payment was about $441 a month PITI (principal/interest/taxes/insurance). I went 5.75 based on what you mentioned about your credit and outstanding debt. There's also a couple of them online where you plug in what you can afford and it spits out how much you can borrow. You mentioned 10% down, that might work but I sort of doubt it.When purchasing an existing property, the banks usually like to see something closer to 20% down. However, if the bank has a backlog of foreclosures and they need to get some $ coming in this may be relaxed, particularly if your credit is reasonable.

You need to know for sure how your credit looks, 'just over 600' is not really accurate. You need to know not only the score but exactly what's contained in the reports. You can get one free credit report from each of the reporting agencies annually, go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp Do all three, sometimes something will show on one but not another. This is not as in depth as the report the mortgage company will pull (mostly theirs goes back further) but it's a good start. Add the scores and divide by three, there's your 'aggregate score'. Sometimes there is little crap (small medical bills etc) which, if paid off, will raise your credit score or maybe there's something from way back sitting there that might drop off pretty quick. (Most stuff drops off in 7 years, bankruptcies and foreclosures go 10 and sometimes 13 years.) I have one, that's right, one late payment from almost 7 years ago which is due to drop off my report in April of this year. Everything else is in the green. But I still got asked about it during my recent refinance. I had no choice but to forge ahead, thankfully it didn't affect my rate. In your case, if there's something getting ready to fall off hold out until it's gone.

Debt to income is a big part of your credit score. If you spend half of your monthly income servicing existing high interest rate debt, that doesn't look good. If there is any way you can consolidate existing debt to lower your interest rate and monthly payments that can help. But be careful, that can also mean you have saddled yourself with a longer term obligation, as in you may be able to pay off the existing stuff in 2 years but if you take out a 5 year loan, you just bought yourself an additional 3 years of montlies. If you have a car loan, if you can sell the car and buy something paid for that helps your DTI also. It doesn't mean you can't get another car loan; once the mortgage is closed the bank could care less what you do as long as you make your payments on time.

Serious advice: avoid 'credit repair agencies' like the plague. One of my brothers owned and operated one. Trust me, you really don't want to go there.

You might also look into owner financing. If the owner will accept a down payment and let you make payments for a couple of years, then you have some breathing room to get your DTI in better shape etc and you are also building a credit history which can help you get a mortgage when the time comes. Caution: this is every bit as serious as a bank mortgage and any agreements should be vetted by a vampire, er, attorney to protect all parties involved.

The only way to get a mortgage with less than 20% down is to get lucky, or do FHA.

Google FHA and see how it helps. It is a really good governmen plan that lets you buy a house with as little as just the closing costs and taxes as down payment.

You only need a credit score of 650 (iirc) to qualify. The only other qualifier is that the house meets certain safety and health criteria (no peeling paint ANYWHERE, no standing water in the basement, house has to be in okay shape, gutters have to be in good shape, etc...)

THis is probably your best bet right now.

This is only true if you are a FIRST TIME HOME BUYER.

Google it. It is good.

Rob

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Marietta_GA/beds-1/baths-1/price-45000-80000#pfbm-800/pg-1

Look at this link. If you scroll down to the listings, it will show you a few houses that meet your criteria in your area.

Check it out.

Rob

OK, I try really hard to be positive most of the time. I'm gonna play the other side this time because, frankly, there's waay too much positive vibes in this thread. I'm gonna shoot straight with you.

If I was a banker (or credit union officer, or whatever) and you walked into my office with the story you started this thread with, I'd show you the door. Quickly.

You are really not in the position to buy right now.

So, where to get started?

Your credit score just won't do. You're gonna have a tough time borrowing money with a credit score of 600, and if you can, you will pay much higher interest rates. It took you a while to get into this mess, and honestly it's gonna take you a while to get out.

You defined a lot of debt. You failed to say why you haven't paid on time.

The biggest single impact on your credit score is late payments. You've been making late payments, and you've got to stop. The bank knows this, and wants their money on time. If they think you are a risk, they will charge you more (higher interest, more debt). Having student loans and CC debt does not give you bad credit. Paying late does.

Now, don't hear me wrong. I said pay on time, I did not say pay it all. When the end of the month comes and the bills are due, you MUST make a payment ON TIME. Not ONE DAY LATE. If you are short, pay a smaller amount, but PAY ON TIME. You and your SO need to be completely committed to NEVER making a late payment again.

Next, start with the biggest priorities- that would be the highest interest rates. Probably CC debt. So, make a minimum payment to each of the debts ON TIME, plus as much as you can additional to the CC. Once that one is paid off, start on the next.

Forgot something- NO NEW DEBT. Get rid of the credit cards. Cut them up. If you can't live on a budget, you won't be able to make the mortgage payments.

Let's see...let's see, what's next?

Expectations. You do not HAVE to have a garage. I think they are wonderful, and I've got a nice one, but it is NOT a requirement of life. I hope you find one, but don't strap yourself with unreasonable expectations. Make sure you (BOTH of you) separate the needs from the wants.

The bank is not impressed with the commitment of 2 people who are trying to get a 30 year mortgage but can't commit to each other. I'm not judging, just telling you how the bank will view it. They will see you as a higher risk, and require more because of it. Higher interest rate, more down payment, mortgage insurance, better credit, whatever. They will see it as an increase in risk, and they will need more from you because of it.

Banks are not your enemy. They understand assessing risk. They are experts at risk asessment. Use that tool to your advantage. In other words, if they say you can afford it, you really can't. Getting more money from the folks just gets you in more trouble.

Why $70K? Does your income justify this?

It sounds like some of your stress is because of your debt. Don't forget the mortgage is more debt.

You can do this. You will be much happier if you can approach it with patience, make some careful decisions, and allow yourself time to rebuild your credit. Don't increase your stress by putting an unreasonable time frame on the whole thing.

It's amazing the misinformation being handed out, (there's good stuff too) but I'm actually not too surprised since most of the changes to the mortgage industry have come about under the radar. How could you know?

The changes to the loan system have become a real problem to recovery. If people can't buy homes that means people can't sell them. What's been the effect of these hidden changes? The Wall Street Journal said that 68% of the people who could have gotten a mortgage at the time of the 2008 election can no longer get a loan. They also said that 2 out of 3 people who own home could no longer qualify for a mortgage on the homes they are living in.

"Well the guidelines were too liberal and these people shouldn't have been able to buy these homes in the first place" you say? No, the Wall Street Journal study just looked at well qualified people with decent credit scores and money in the bank. They didn't look at "B" loans or alternative lending. You can still get a loan but expect lenders to ask more of you, expect it to take much longer and be much more complicated than it's been since, well EVER! I've been doing this since 1974 and it's never been this complicated to get a home loan.

The people who said it was a plus to be able to get face to face with an LO were right on target! Very few people can do it without someone (a LO) actively championing your loan and ready to dot every i and cross every t.

100% financing is still available, you just have to either be a Veteran or buy in a less populous area (USDA and a couple of other programs like it).

FHA has the most expensive mortgage insurance of all the loan types. Every time I figure loan payments and compare types, FHA's payment is higher. They charge both upfront MI and monthly MI. All others choose one or the other. FHA MI rates are increasing .25% very soon.

All loan types have some sort of Insurance or guarantee associated with them. This is what allows you to put less than 25% down.

You credit score determines your loan criteria and your interest rate. It really affects your interest rate a lot! But let's say that FHA has a 640 minimum credit score requirement (which it does across most of the country) if you only have a 640 credit score they will require more of you and underwrite you more stringently than if you had a 700+ score. Technically FHA has a statuatory minimum score requirement of 580. But if you've got a 580 credit score & if you can find someone who will do a loan for a buyer with a 580 score they will require things like a 10% down, no open collections, 3 pieces of active credit with a 12 months seasoning and a minimum of a $500 high credit limit. 2 year history with no gap, etc. STRINGS in other words.

New Conventional rules begin penalizing more people with restrictive loan to value and credit score requirements and have the effect of raising interest rates. The new gold standard is a 75% LTV with an 800 credit score. You can still get 5% down Conventional loans it's just that the point add-ons (costs) for any loan above the 75% LTV and 800 credit score are higher than before.

Banks are the devil, now. Remember that Change everyone voted for? You got it, you just forgot to ask what they were going to change and did they know enough to figure out what to change and why? Banks are now a protected class and they act like it, well at least the Too Big to Fail Banks. They literally are outside the laws every other lender in America must follow.

A recent 3rd party study showed the TBTF banks had closing costs of $400-$800 higher than other lenders and interest rates of .125% - .25% higher than other lenders so what how did the CEO of Wells respond? By saying that they didn't have to be competitive, they could get all the business they wanted just from their name. How's that for a caring attitude.

Credit Unions are usually mortgage brokers, they rarely make and keep their own loans.

Most of the new Loan Officers at the TBTF banks are hourly waged employees, mostly not that far above minimum wage employees. Minimum wage isn't a career choice so they leave a lot. I have a builder customer who has been trying to get a home closed thru BofA since December 26th. December 26 is when BofA said they could close, but the minimum wage LO quit. They've lost a total of 5 loan officers since they began the loan and the house still hasn't closed. Everytime a LO quits the loan gets lost. Since there's no financial incentive for someone to pick up a problem and work it (there's no commission involved), the loan has become an orphan.

Most the builders I know, and I work with over 40 of them, won't even accept a sale from a buyer who wants to use one of the big 4.

Just found out tonight that BofA won't accept contracts that use electronic signatures on any of their loans. All other lenders will.

ALL LOAN OFFICERS must be licensed or registered. But the TBTFs think they are outside that law as well. They'rea bout to ge a comeupence as the secondary market (people like HUD, Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie, etc.) will soon quit allowing loans to close if the LO isn't legal. This isn't a new thing, we've known about it for at least 4 years and most of us became licensed or registered in 2009. What is new is that they are finally going to enforce the law. If you are wanting to close a loan on a home after July you need to be checking you LO out on this site: http://nmlsconsumeraccess.org/ If they are not there find a different loan officer because you won't be able to close your loan.

Those LOs paid by the hour will soon be the law of the land. The big banks have been able to get the Feds to pass a rule that requires all lenders to pay their people by the hour too. Up to this time everyone has said the big banks were just being greedy by paying this way and keeping all the money for themselves, but soon they won't be greedy they'll just be complying with the law.

Do you guys know who the Feds are? When I Googled ”Who Owns the Federal Reserve”? I found out "The Fed is privately owned. Its shareholders are private banks."

So the banks got a rule made that dumbed every other lender down to their level.

You don't even want to know what's happened in the appraisal industry. Don't expect an appraisal to give you the value of a home anymore. They are no longer being asked what the house is really worth and that's good because the appraisers are being paid about 1/3 of what they were 2 years ago so they can't afford to take the time to do a real appraisal. And don't bother to try to give them information about your house or neighborhood, cause if they don't ask you and you just force it on them you could be found guilty of 'trying to influence an appraisal" which is now a federal offense which means it's conceivable that you could end up in the Federal Pen.

Don't like what your house appraised for? You can only ask a middle man to pretty please would you ask the appraiser if he will reconsider. He doesn't have to.

Yup, things have changed a lot in the past 2 years and most of you haven't a clue what's been going on. And why should you, it's not something you deal with everyday.

SVreX wrote: You defined a lot of debt. You failed to say why you haven't paid on time. The biggest single impact on your credit score is late payments. You've been making late payments, and you've got to stop. Now, don't hear me wrong. I said pay on time, I did not say pay it all. When the end of the month comes and the bills are due, you MUST make a payment ON TIME. Not ONE DAY LATE. If you are short, pay a smaller amount, but PAY ON TIME. You and your SO need to be completely committed to NEVER making a late payment again. Next, start with the biggest priorities- that would be the highest interest rates. Probably CC debt. So, make a minimum payment to each of the debts ON TIME, plus as much as you can additional to the CC. Once that one is paid off, start on the next. Forgot something- NO NEW DEBT. Get rid of the credit cards. Cut them up. If you can't live on a budget, you won't be able to make the mortgage payments. The bank is not impressed with the commitment of 2 people who are trying to get a 30 year mortgage but can't commit to each other. I'm not judging, just telling you how the bank will view it. They will see you as a higher risk, and require more because of it. Higher interest rate, more down payment, mortgage insurance, better credit, whatever. They will see it as an increase in risk, and they will need more from you because of it.

Thanks for all of the good advice. I should add some to this explanation in order to better give you an idea of what I am looking at.

I had GREAT credit until I went unemployed during my final semester of college and for the following few months. It is amazing how much debt a stupid unemployed kid can rack up in 10 months without a job, living on his own.

Since I have become gainfully employed I have not had a late payment. I also did not renew the card when it came time to do so, so I have not had a credit card for almost 2 years. I have been paying more than double the minimum for the last 5 months.

As far as the marriage thing goes, I view it that I can either give my girlfriend the wedding she deserves, OR we can get a house, it is not financially viable to do both. If it really comes down to it though, we could do the "courthouse special" for the paperwork.

Your ratio of income to outgo shows your ABILITY to pay.

Your credit score shows your WILLINGNESS to pay.

The quickie Readers Digest highlights of securing and maintaining a good credit score (beyond just paying your bills) are:

You need some open credit to maintain a good credit score. I call them Activity Units. The credit bureau needs to see some activity (great or small) to be able to determine how good a credit risk you are. If you never have credit or don't have very much then they have no idea if you will pay your bills. The credit bureau doesn't know if you are paying minimum payments or paying it off each month, all they know is that you are paying something consistently. Your creditor knows how much you are paying and it will affect your future credit offers, but for credit score purposes have some activity regularly even if it's $5 a month.

Don't cut up and close your zero balance credit cards. One of the criteria for a good credit score is the more available credit the higher your score. If you close those accounts you have just put a serious dent in your available credit.

Fight any credit limit decreases See above. New credit card laws say if you don't use it, you lose it. That means that your $1,000 credit limit will drop unless you use all or most of it sometime. The law requires the CCs to lower your credit limits to reflect your usage. So sometime when you have the money to pay cash for a larger purchase - DON'T. Charge it, give it time to hit their books and immediately pay it off. That gives you an activity unit and keeps your credit limits high which helps raise your credit scores.

Today's credit trumps yesterday's credit A 30 day late this month will lower your credit scores by 80-100 points. (each credit inquiry will lower you credit score by 8-10 points) By way of comparison a 90 day late 2 years old has less impact than the 30 day late today. Why? Because the 30 day late says you are having problems paying your bills right now.

How do I raise my low credit scores? You can see from the above that time heals all wounds. That means one way is to wait it out. But why not be replacing that old bad stuff with new good stuff? Remember that today's credit trumps yesterday's credit. If you were to put a drop of ink in a shotglass it would color the water a lot, but put the same drop in a bucket of water and you might not even notice it. The moral to that story is if you can create enough of a credit bucket by having multiple pieces of new, good credit you can overcome a few problems in the past.

Don't pay off those collections!!!!!!!!!!!!! A few years ago the collection company's lobby got a bill passed that allowed them to really stick it to you. The idea was that they could make your life so miserable that you'd have to pay them. It backfired!

They have the right to re-report your paid 6 year old collection as brand new with a new 7 year life the minute you pay that collection off. If a 30 day late drops your score by 80-100 points just think of what a brand new collection can do to your score. Consequently very few lenders of any type require you to pay off any old collections. If they did then your credit score would drop so low they couldn't make you a loan.

And while it's true you can sometimes negotiate with them to remove it if you pay it, that rarely happens. They lie! They write you letters that say things like we'll correct the credit bureau report once you pay this collection off and they do, they correct it to show a new paid collection. If you were to get a letter like that it should say in very definite terms that once this bill is paid the account will be DELETED from the credit bureau. Then if they don't do it you can get it done by sending a copy of the letter and proof of payment to the credit bureau.

PROVE IT OR REMOVE IT The basic principle of the credit bureau is the creditor must prove it or remove it. Nothing says they have to report you in the first place, but the law says that if the CHOOSE to report it they are not allowed to report anything any worse than what happens. You could be late 36 times out of 36 and they could report you as paying on time, that's legal, but they can't report you late even one time if it didn't happen.

Whenever you're talking to a creditor play dumb. Be as blonde as you can be. You don't know nuttin' except your lender said they had something bad on the credit bureau. Get them to give you what they've got. If the report shows 14 30 day lates and they can only come up with 12, well now the credit report must be amended downward to 12. Not a great victory but your credit score is made up of a lot of little things like this.

You may know you were late February 2009 but they have it on the books as March or April. All you have to do then is get your cancelled check for when they said you were late and give them a copy ,they must correct your records to show you were on time that month. You are not required to tell them it was actually Feb.

They've show you had 14 30 day lates in the past 60 months. Nothing says they have to report your credit for 60 months. Remember nothing says they have to report you at all. Talk nicely and many will shorten the reporting period to the past 12-24 months.

Tell them you are buying a house and this is the only thing standing in the way of getting a house and Fed law requires them to jump you to the front of the line. Also many times they'll identify with you and help you out by checking things out more quickly or even removing items that really happened.

Don't be afraid to go up the ladder. The minimum wage employee who answers the phone has no power. Their job is to run interference and weed out the less than sincere people. Don't be afraid to ask for a supervisor. Most good things happen at the 2nd or 3rd level.

I gotta go to bed now.

finance it at a local bank or credit union- the kind of place where you talk to the owner/president when going thru tha application process- and avoid the big banks at all costs.. if you MUST go to a big bank, then avoid Wells Fargo. they are evil.

In this economy I'd play it safe and focus on paying existing debt down first and set any extra cash aside for a down payment later before looking for another 15-30 years of debt right off the bat on top of your current $13K. And about job security for 1.5 years of gainful employment each, are you both ready to live on and pay all those bills on $35K/ yr instead of $70K for six months or more if one of you is laid off?.... the hole gets even deeper.

All of the above, plus this. DO NOT go from an apartment to a house without a little cash reserve on hand. The thing that startled me most when my wife and I made the transition was all the things we needed to buy/do as homeowners that were always the landlord's problem before. It really surprised me how much it cost to get a new home squared away. (Lawncare supplies, repair funds, etc., etc.) A 70K foreclosure is going to be all the more so. You can pretty much plan on discovering problems after you move in which, even if you are handy enough to fix, are still going to have materials costs. The good news is that (if the mortgage interest deduction stays in place), you'll be pleasantly surprised with your first tax return afterwards.

Personal Opinion Warning: I would NEVER buy a house with a SO. If you're going to be together long term, get married. If you aren't, or aren't 100% sure you are, you aren't ready to buy a house. If you guys separate, jointly owning a home will give you all the joy of a divorce without ever getting married.

Carguy123, thanks for taking the time. I found your postings to be very informative. Thanks for the efforts, I learned from them.

Here is another input for the original poster.
Weather I was buying in the $80k range or the $160k range, in choosing a new house I have always been amazed at the constant compromises you have to make. There you go, spending the most money you ever have and you still can not seem to get exactly what you want.
For my first house I really wanted a 2 car garage and at least a bath and a half. I got 1.5 car garage and one bath.
On my second house I wanted 3 car, 2 bath and big kitchen. Ended up with small 2 car and small kitchen.

My advise, as other have posted above, is to keep the house purchase price in check and be careful about how the price range you are shopping tends to creep up. Before you know it, you are looking at house which cost more than you can afford. Plenty of people live in really nice houses but I also believe that many of those people lay awake at night because they are too worried about how they are going to afford their house. To me, the greatest luxury is consistent good nights sleep and I personally achieve that by living below my means.

Maroon92 wrote: I still owe about 7 grand on student loans.

Man you are lucky. My families student loan debt is damn close to 6 figures.

I used a 3% FHA loan a bit ago, it was painless and good.

As for the actual house, understand th old adage about real estate is true.. .Location, Location, location.. Buy your house so that if you had to sell it in 2,3,4,10 years you could easily. Anything about the house can be changed, except the location.

Carguy123:

Those are some excellent posts. Well, one was a bit more of a rant, but the other was very informative. You did a much better job articulating that stuff than I did.

Would you mind elaborating on this point a bit more?

carguy123 wrote: Don't pay off those collections!!!!!!!!!!!!! A few years ago the collection company's lobby got a bill passed that allowed them to really stick it to you. The idea was that they could make your life so miserable that you'd have to pay them. It backfired! They have the right to re-report your paid 6 year old collection as brand new with a new 7 year life the minute you pay that collection off. If a 30 day late drops your score by 80-100 points just think of what a brand new collection can do to your score. Consequently very few lenders of any type require you to pay off any old collections. If they did then your credit score would drop so low they couldn't make you a loan. And while it's true you can sometimes negotiate with them to remove it if you pay it, that rarely happens. They lie! They write you letters that say things like we'll correct the credit bureau report once you pay this collection off and they do, they correct it to show a new paid collection. If you were to get a letter like that it should say in very definite terms that once this bill is paid the account will be DELETED from the credit bureau. Then if they don't do it you can get it done by sending a copy of the letter and proof of payment to the credit bureau.

You are talking about COLLECTIONS, not BALANCES, right? Is that specifically items that have been turned over to a collection agency, or does it include slow payments?

A credit score can be dinged pretty hard without anything being turned over to a collection agency. But what about balances that were formally slow, now being caught up? Are you suggesting they should not be paid off (for the purpose of building a credit score)?

kazoospec wrote: Personal Opinion Warning: I would NEVER buy a house with a SO. If you're going to be together long term, get married. If you aren't, or aren't 100% sure you are, you aren't ready to buy a house. If you guys separate, jointly owning a home will give you all the joy of a divorce without ever getting married.

I agree with this.