FHA mortgage strategies and qualifications for 1st time buyer

[Steven Violano]

I will be repatriating to US after selling a small business I founded and ran for the last 9 years. I plan to owner occupy a small multi-family to begin building cash flow and income ASAP. I have 775 FICO score and have a tax history of earning a modest income from abroad, but will be starting from scratch while living with family upon return and thus have very low overhead. What's a good strategy for me to get mortgage and begin investing in real estate? Is FHA even an option or should I look elsewhere like 80-10-10 or low income mortgages for first time buyers? BTW, this is my first BP post. Thank you in advance for sharing your wisdom.

[Chris Mason]

Originally posted by @Steven Violano:

Thank you Jerry for taking the time to respond... I suppose I have to jump directly into creative financing.

I wouldn't give up so fast. Fannie/Freddie/FHA set the basic guidelines, but individual banks are allowed to be more restrictive, those extra restrictions are called "mortgage guideline overlays."

You will need employment/income, and if you don't want to wait the 2 years then it'll have to be W2 salary type income or full time hourly. And there will be some narrative tying it all together to be packaged / submitted / sold to underwriting. For example if you sold a widget business in France and are now the assistant junior vice president of marketing for a fobbit business, and widgets are somehow related to fobbits, that would work.

Hell, I got my first house/mortgage like 8 months into the mortgage industry, after graduating with a political science degree. The narrative tying that together was complete rubbish, something about how a polsci major understands gov'ts, and mortgages are regulated by gov'ts, it was a joke.... but it got me into a house.

Might be advantageous to find an independent mortgage broker local to where you are buying that works with multiple lenders. That way they can shop around not just the rate/fees, but also the scenario itself, for an optimal outcome.