Need advice for an FHA mortgage. First time buyer

[Kevin Wiley]

Hello all, 

I have a situation and need some advice. There are a couple of moving parts so please bear with me. 

1st, I have poor credit. My fico scores are 594, 606 and 619. 

 2nd, I am working on a flip right now and expect to profit about 50k once it sells. It will be hitting the market in about 2 weeks and should sell fast. 

3rd, I have about 20k in total debt (19k car loan and 1k bad debt). I intend on paying g these off from my flip. 

4th, my income is a base pay of 42k per year plus bonuses and overtime. 

Now, here is my question. Given all of the above information, are there any loan officers or experienced buyers here that can work with me to find a lender for an FHA loan? I know FHA requirements are a 580 score, 3.5% down, and no larger than 4 units. I've called 3 different lenders and all of them require higher credit scores and don't go above 2 units with FHA.

I found a PERFECT triplex in St. Petersburg,  Florida that I want to house hack in as my first purchase. The property consists of a 3/1 single family home and 2 1/1 unit duplex. 

Can anyone more experienced in banking lend me some advice? 

Thank you so much

[Jerry Padilla]

@Kevin Wiley

Lenders go according to your middle credit score. I haven't heard of any lenders that go down to 580. 600 best case scenario, but you are going to have to DTI limitations, with greater down payment requirements. A 620 credit score is going to put you in a lot better position with FHA. You can do 4 unit properties without an issue, I haven't heard of this issue with an FHA, except with the FHA 203k loan. There will be many more great deals out there, and you may have to wait until you sell your flip and get your credit up to purchase and put yourself in a better position.