The Stewarts -- First Time Homebuyers, no credit

Here’s a problem that you don’t think about very often…  Boy meets girl.  Boy and girl fall in love.  Boy and girl find a nice apartment together and pay all of their bills on time.  Happy couple opens no credit cards and pays cash for cars because girl’s Dad told them the horrors of consumer debt.  Happy couple decides it’s time to buy a house.  Sad couple is declined for loan because they have no credit.

No credit is just as bad as bad credit!

So what do you do if you find yourself in this unfortunate predicament?

First step is to open a credit card and buy your gas and groceries on it.  Pay it in full every month.  Maybe get a card with an airlines frequent flier reward program — that way you can rack up a few miles while you use the card.  By doing this, you will begin to build credit — good credit!

Second, you make sure that your Realtor has provided you with a great referral to a competent lender who can help you deal with this strange situation.  I use Matt Eversgerd at First Integrity Mortgage Services.   Matt and I are working a transaction right now with the Stewarts — they want to buy a home in Webster Groves.  We found them a cute house in Tuxedo Park– $199,000.  Upon pulling credit, this young couple has no scores.  Matt is in the process of building a credit score for them.  Because First Integrity Mortgage Services has in-house underwriters, they are able to put together a decision quickly.  If your lender’s underwriting team is located off-site (which is how 95% of mortgage brokers operate), files have to be mailed back and forth for approvals.  Matt will be able to get the Stewarts approved for this house.  He has never failed me.  

Third, you need to have a Realtor who has dealt with these types of problems before.  Not all Realtors are good — in fact, the typical Realtor only sells 2 or 3 houses a year.  They cannot possibly have the experience necessary to deal with problems that pop up — and problems often pop up!

My team of Realtors has decades of experience, we sell a ton of houses, we’re ranked in the top 1% of Realtors in St. Louis.  Call me.  314 267 2636

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