Thomas Hall's Advice

How much are you putting down? How long were you in the BK? What were the circumstances that resulted in the BK? Have you reestablished credit? Have you shown a propensity to save?  These are all issues that would need to be addressed. The fact that you have a recent BK there would need to be significant compensating factors.

I used to live in S. Cal and I remember the first time I bought a house out there. The Realtor and mortgage broker (who I ended up not using) didn't understand some mortgage products (VA loans and a CAL first time home buyer program) so instead of exploring which product was best they tried steering me to a product in their experience was easiest to close.Obviously you have to weigh the options on whether you want the house or use your VA entitlement. I do recommend comparing VA to conventional if you have any funds for a downpayment.When a market is hot realtors and sellers will tend to go with the offer that is most attractive and they expect will close. If you are constantly bidding on houses that have multiple offers than the unknown of the VA loan may "scare" some people. I personally would not go into a product that will cost me more just to get the house. I would wait for the house and seller that work but that is a decision you will need to make.

Your best option is a 203KS mortgage.  The property is appraised "As-is" and "With Repairs".  The lender will allow you to finance up to 35K for repairs (although part of the funds are set aside for contingency expenses and some fees so allow for $30k).As long as the home will meet FHA standards upon completion of repairs then you can close using this mortgage. The borrower minimum investment/downpayment is 3.5% of purchase price +total 203K costs.I'm in Nashville TN.  Fifth Third has a dedicated 203KS department you can contact me our a Fifth Third Mortgage Loan officer in your market.

As long as you can show him making payments for 12 mos then you are good to go.

Need more specifics. Is your question related to not having a mortgage on your credit report counted against you for DTI purposes?  If your divorce decree shows that you are no longer responsible for a mortgage/debt and you have proof that your ex spouse is making payments on time for 12 months then as a contingent liability the debt can be excluded.But although legally you are not responsible per divorce decree and your former spouse is. It will impact your credit, until your former spouse refinances the debt.

One advantage/disadvantage of the Homepath is that no appraisal is required If you go with another product then you are going to need an appraisal and that may impact your ability to close on time. Depending on the condition of the REO you are buying you may also run into an issue of the appraisal requiring repairs and generally Fannie Mae won't do repairs.I would recommend contacting another HOMEPATH LENDER and get them to close your deal. http://www.homepath.com/financing-lenders.html

Yes 5/3rd does plenty of 203ks in the Ohio market.

Yes, we are still doing 203KS loans I would need to know what state to tell you if we can help you.

The state of Tennessee has a First Time Home Buyer program through THDA (www.thda.org ). The Great Start Program provides a 4% grant which will pay the FHA down-payment. There are certain income and purchase price restrictions. You can explore their website or contact me through my profile and I can step you through the process.

Is your current mortgage a VA Loan?  If so you qualify for VA IRRL(no appraisal-Streamline-No underwriting) assuming you have no 1X30 late in the last 12 mos we can do a VA IRRL.If your current mortgage is not VA then it would require and appraisal and VA consider's it a cashout loan and we are capped at 90%If you are asking about eligibility for any type of VA financingyou can obtain your certificate of eligibilty here  https://iris.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1080