All Forum Posts by: Justin Harris

Hey John!! I know right now it seems like your goal is pretty far away but keep your head up and you'll be there soon enough. I would just like to share my story with you because I believe your situation is similar to mine. I officially closed on my first home last year on August 28 2015 at the age of 26 years old. One day away from my birth date. That year and the year before I made around $38,000. At the time I owed over 57,000 in student loans, $3000 on a car loan, 2000 in credit cards. Instead of waiting to pay down my balance on the credit card I just got a new one. Doubled my credit limit which shot my score up 30 points or so. I now had a beacon of 709. I went through several banks, around 5 to be exact. I finally found one that approved me for a house up to 135,000. I then went shopping. I probably looked at around 100 houses before I found this beautiful 3 bed room 1.5 bath with a double garage for 31000. That's right 31000.... It was a forclosure property, and with the bank that approve me we did a renovation loan (conventional) for a total of 60,000 including all repairs. The house appraised for 102,000. To get the loan I had to live in the house for a year but only had to put 3.5% down. I currently rent two of the bedrooms out for a $100 profit a month while I still live there. There's always a way to go. Doesn't matter how many people tell you no. The bank I used was prime lending if you want to try them. Let me know if you have any questions! I'd be happy to walk you through what I did and even warn you about what I should have done better.