Hard/Private money lender.

[James Silva Brown]

Hi, 

My name is James Brown and I am new to real estate investing. I live in Michigan. I guess this is me reaching out for some help/advice. I previously just got licensed as a real estate agent. My credit is not so good (due to not being smart with my money in my 20's), but this is me starting over in my life, career/financially. I am looking for someone who can help me fund a deal. I would like to build a relationship with a lender, prove my worth. I will do whatever it takes, I just would like some advice and help. 

Thank you, 

James

[Stephanie P.]

Hey @James Silva Brown

With a score down that low, you're going to have to find very creative owner financing like leases with options to buy or outright seller financing. A hard money lender would MAYBE help with the purchase, but you won't qualify for the take out loan (your exit strategy) and you'll get foreclosed on.  Take steps to fix your credit now so you can purchase in the future.  Here are some tidbits.  Take them for what they're worth. 

The minimum score for an FHA loan is 550 with 10% down and 580 with 3.5% down. Both of those require the owner to occupy the property, so it's best to buy units and have the mortgage paid by the tenant(s).

Regarding your credit, you're going to have to be proactive when dealing with your credit report.  Contact Experian, Equifax and Transunion and dispute all of the collections on your account.  If the creditor doesn't respond within 30 days, the credit reporting bureaus will take that collection off  your report and your score will increase.  Then, start with the smallest revolving or installment bill you have and pay it down to 0.  DON'T CLOSE THE ACCOUNT if it's a revolving line of credit or credit card. It's important to keep accounts open with credit limits and low balances.    

Those simple things will help to improve your score and get you close to qualifying going further.  As you're doing this, save your money.  For every dollar you bring in, you should put ten cents away.  It's called "pay yourself first".  Give another 10% away to charity.  It will come back to you ten fold.  

Hope that helps,

Stephanie