So, as I get more and more informed on this whole house hunting/buying process goes the more frustrated I get.
See, I've lived fairly debt free for 90% of my adult life, and if I've ever gotten a loan for something I've paid it off ASAP, often within just a couple of months, thus closing the account in the process. Well, now I'm 27 years old, no credit cards, no car loans, nothing really in those aspects...at least not anything that they "count". Currently owning two vehicles, in good/like new condition, less than 10 years old, completely paid off, does nothing to help my case. Having phone, internet, & electric bills all paid, not late even once in two years, with the same company, does not count. Doing rent to own on this house we're in currently, having been here for 18 months, not one single late payment, does not count. Basically a bank/lender wants to see you have DEBT that you are currently paying on, and have been paying on for 13+ months, every year that you go thru your adult life without "building credit" ie having debt, counts DRASTICALLY against you. So from the things we've learned thru this process we are now paying a bank to hold onto our money and limit our access to our own money, we are now paying some of our bills with the debit card/checks, at a slightly higher rate (1-3% higher for paying such ways) and the like, in an effort to show that we're capable of paying our bills.
All I have to say about that is THANK YOU to the irresponsible people who have spent the last few years lying about their incomes, job histories, residency, etc in an effort to get into a house, run up credit card debt, and the works, all in an effort to keep up with a lifestyle WAY out of their league.
So anyways, we're out of the option of going thru a bank to get a traditional home loan, for a minimum of 13 months while we get "secured" loans (basically you give the bank/credit union $100, they'll give you a $100 loan, for 13 months, that you have to pay interest on, and make a monthly payment on every month, until its "paid-off" on the 13th month) Also while we "build a paper trail" by paying everything with checks and debit cards, so that there is "proof" that we make these payments every month. We could get a co-signer, but there's only been one person that's "agreed" to co-sign for us, that meets the bank's requirements, and I'm sorry, I'm not too terribly fond of this person (22y/o female blondie of the recent several months of drama between Brian and I).
But then I remembered about another gentleman who deals in mobile homes. My mom rented from him for a number of years, I, too, rented from him back several years ago, but I refrain from bringing that up to him, as it was involved with a LOT of drama with my XH & brother & his babies' momma....but he really liked my mom, and he's of the notion that because my mom dealt well with him she taught her kids the same, he's also familiar with my Granny & Papa, from when they were alive, so where he might not remember me all that much, he really has a lot of respect for all of them.
This tidbit of strategically dropped information (in all fairness he asked if we were from around here, the like, so I divulged just enough information in a way that gave him approval thru them 
) Anyways, he has a bit of land just at the edge of town, tucked in back off any main road, where he's able to put up double wide trailer houses. Now he's 65+ years old, and is really trying to get out of this business so that he can retire, so doesn't really do any financing himself anymore..according to his step-son last week he's only financed one person in the last two years, he's just tired of "dealing" with folks not paying what they agreed to pay and the works.
So we went into him today, explained out situation with our lack of credit history, etc...He was very upfront with us, is going to look into what he's able to get his hands on, in our reasonable price range, compared with what its going to cost him, to finance us, and we worked out a reasonable deal of what he's going to look for. Now it's almost guaranteed that he can get us into a repo'ed double wide mobile home, and he'll get it set up for us. He's going to review our credit reports for himself...which I had copies of from our recent bank dealings, so have already saved him the initial $30 charge for that. We also shared with him the fact that if he finds something he doesn't have to worry about appliances, as we already own most the appliances we need anyways, if the house has gas hook-ups and he is worried about the cost of a propane tank I have a 250 gallon one at my potential disposal as well, so again, saving him $1,000-6,000 right there as well off the costs, and assured him that if the house is structurally and electrically sound we can deal with cosmetic issues ourselves, so again, saving him money there, money he'd front for the work and materials to fix it up.
I'm hoping we made a good enough impression on him that he does help us out with the financing aspect and maybe by the end of the year we'll be able to move into a bigger, nicer house where we're not having to pay to have a well re-dug, roof redone, electrical work done properly, AND we'll be off this blasted highway. The "lots" of land that he has to put houses on are 1+ acres each, we're hoping to get two lots of land, so 2 acres, and in the next 5 years or so that bit of properties are going to be annexed into the city, thus eliminating our need to rely on well water and have city water, which is quite a bit cheaper and more reliable than having a well, even a new one.
I know I did a lot of rambling, but I have a pretty good feeling about this and am REALLY hoping this comes thru for us!
See, I've lived fairly debt free for 90% of my adult life, and if I've ever gotten a loan for something I've paid it off ASAP, often within just a couple of months, thus closing the account in the process. Well, now I'm 27 years old, no credit cards, no car loans, nothing really in those aspects...at least not anything that they "count". Currently owning two vehicles, in good/like new condition, less than 10 years old, completely paid off, does nothing to help my case. Having phone, internet, & electric bills all paid, not late even once in two years, with the same company, does not count. Doing rent to own on this house we're in currently, having been here for 18 months, not one single late payment, does not count. Basically a bank/lender wants to see you have DEBT that you are currently paying on, and have been paying on for 13+ months, every year that you go thru your adult life without "building credit" ie having debt, counts DRASTICALLY against you. So from the things we've learned thru this process we are now paying a bank to hold onto our money and limit our access to our own money, we are now paying some of our bills with the debit card/checks, at a slightly higher rate (1-3% higher for paying such ways) and the like, in an effort to show that we're capable of paying our bills.
All I have to say about that is THANK YOU to the irresponsible people who have spent the last few years lying about their incomes, job histories, residency, etc in an effort to get into a house, run up credit card debt, and the works, all in an effort to keep up with a lifestyle WAY out of their league.
So anyways, we're out of the option of going thru a bank to get a traditional home loan, for a minimum of 13 months while we get "secured" loans (basically you give the bank/credit union $100, they'll give you a $100 loan, for 13 months, that you have to pay interest on, and make a monthly payment on every month, until its "paid-off" on the 13th month) Also while we "build a paper trail" by paying everything with checks and debit cards, so that there is "proof" that we make these payments every month. We could get a co-signer, but there's only been one person that's "agreed" to co-sign for us, that meets the bank's requirements, and I'm sorry, I'm not too terribly fond of this person (22y/o female blondie of the recent several months of drama between Brian and I).
But then I remembered about another gentleman who deals in mobile homes. My mom rented from him for a number of years, I, too, rented from him back several years ago, but I refrain from bringing that up to him, as it was involved with a LOT of drama with my XH & brother & his babies' momma....but he really liked my mom, and he's of the notion that because my mom dealt well with him she taught her kids the same, he's also familiar with my Granny & Papa, from when they were alive, so where he might not remember me all that much, he really has a lot of respect for all of them.
This tidbit of strategically dropped information (in all fairness he asked if we were from around here, the like, so I divulged just enough information in a way that gave him approval thru them ) Anyways, he has a bit of land just at the edge of town, tucked in back off any main road, where he's able to put up double wide trailer houses. Now he's 65+ years old, and is really trying to get out of this business so that he can retire, so doesn't really do any financing himself anymore..according to his step-son last week he's only financed one person in the last two years, he's just tired of "dealing" with folks not paying what they agreed to pay and the works.So we went into him today, explained out situation with our lack of credit history, etc...He was very upfront with us, is going to look into what he's able to get his hands on, in our reasonable price range, compared with what its going to cost him, to finance us, and we worked out a reasonable deal of what he's going to look for. Now it's almost guaranteed that he can get us into a repo'ed double wide mobile home, and he'll get it set up for us. He's going to review our credit reports for himself...which I had copies of from our recent bank dealings, so have already saved him the initial $30 charge for that. We also shared with him the fact that if he finds something he doesn't have to worry about appliances, as we already own most the appliances we need anyways, if the house has gas hook-ups and he is worried about the cost of a propane tank I have a 250 gallon one at my potential disposal as well, so again, saving him $1,000-6,000 right there as well off the costs, and assured him that if the house is structurally and electrically sound we can deal with cosmetic issues ourselves, so again, saving him money there, money he'd front for the work and materials to fix it up.
I'm hoping we made a good enough impression on him that he does help us out with the financing aspect and maybe by the end of the year we'll be able to move into a bigger, nicer house where we're not having to pay to have a well re-dug, roof redone, electrical work done properly, AND we'll be off this blasted highway. The "lots" of land that he has to put houses on are 1+ acres each, we're hoping to get two lots of land, so 2 acres, and in the next 5 years or so that bit of properties are going to be annexed into the city, thus eliminating our need to rely on well water and have city water, which is quite a bit cheaper and more reliable than having a well, even a new one.
I know I did a lot of rambling, but I have a pretty good feeling about this and am REALLY hoping this comes thru for us!
Oh, and they JUST put in brand new laminate hardwood floors in there.
because our private well can't keep up with a washer - or much of anything really. 
.....