Qualifying for a conventional mortgage with "okay" credit

[David June]

Let me start by saying through most of my life I have made all the wrong decisions when it came to money and finances. I spent, borrowed, and lived beyond my means until I hit a wall. I have always paid my bills on time and so my credit score is not terrible (its currently around 690), but my mistakes have strapped me with a ton of negative debt. I have student loans, personal loans I used to consolidate credit cards, a car loan. It seems like the list never stops. I have in the past year or so taken major steps in cutting costs and budgeting to get out of the red every month, and to slowly pay down my debts. All that said I still felt like I needed to do a lot more, not only to make up for all the time I lost spending money rather than saving or investing, but also to build something more than my W2 job could ever provide. In came real estate! After finding BiggerPockets I knew that real estate would be the vehicle I use to accomplish those goals. 

I have entrenched myself in information and attempted to soak up every bit of knowledge I can. I have confidence in my ability to do everything necessary with the exception of getting a loan. A family member has offered to partner and bring 15-20K as a down payment, but in the Houston market I'm not sure that will be enough down to convince any lenders.

Is there any point in investing the time to find an investor friendly lender, or would I simply be wasting both parties time trying to pull off the impossible, applying for a low money down loan with okay credit and poor personal finances? I also understand the COVID will likely cause lenders to be more conservative than normal

Thanks in advance, 

[Mark Sewell]

Huge respect for your putting yourself out there like this - takes some courage.  I wanted to clarify, are you seeking a loan for rental/investment properties, or for a personal owner-occupied residence?

COVID isn't going to last forever - so with that in mind, start making the moves/adjustments you need to get yourself over 700 so that when the world normalizes again, you'll be ready or at least much closer to ready.