Hello!
I'm new to biggerpockets but have been doing a lot of research on BRRR by reading, watching, and listening. I'm ready to start getting out of the research phase and move into an action phase!
I'll get straight to the point. My ex and I are separating and rather than selling the home to remove financial obligation from her I'm hoping to be able to refinance. I have a low credit score (slightly above 600) due to carrying high credit card debt as well as having some charged off CC's from my college days, however the statute for those to show up on my credit report expire in August of this year so it should provide a sizable boost to my credit score, in addition to my plan I have in place to reduce my total credit usage from $12,000 (out of 13,000 available) down to about $4,000 by July (hopefully lower!).
I've recently discovered that my home falls into the new zoning for USDA Loans and my income meets the eligibility (I make roughly $77,000/yr and will be getting a sizable raise to $105,000 around August due to a restructuring at work). I'd prefer this loan because it doesn't require any upfront costs, however I can't find any information on refinancing into one from an FHA loan. I can handle the mortgage of roughly $1,500/month on my own (it'll just make my timeline for paying down CC debt a little longer), however I'm worried I won't qualify for anything.
My ultimate goal is to "house hack" the 5 bedroom 3.5 bath home until I have enough saved up to find another property to start brrr'ing. The home is a little outside of a large central illinois college town and has alot of future housing development opportunities around it in addition to being butted up against historic route 66. I feel this house is going to increase in value tremendously over the next 10+ years and really don't want to give it up because my ex wants off the mortgage and I don't have the upfront cash in order refinance. The house does need some work and I feel like there is already some equity in it, so I'm also interested if options that allow me to pull some money out to do the appropriate upgrades (the biggest being putting in a 3 room mini split heat pump to replace a 20 year old propane furnace that burns through propane and a 15 year old ac unit that needs replaced also). With propane prices being so high, i'm trying to convert to as much electrical as I can, with potential future hopes to get some solar panels as well.
Any advice would be appreciated, also happy to add more information if needed!
