Getting a loan without a real job

As far as getting a loan, my situation is probably not the typical scenario. Of all the good things I have going for myself, a recent steady work history is not one of them. Which for some reason is important to lenders. Even with great credit and a good sized down payment, I knew a typical mortgage was not going to happen for me.

 

I set-up an appointment with a mortgage broker to see what options I had. I knew going in that I would be paying higher interest than a person who earned their money by going to work everyday. As it was explained to me, with my current situation, I basically had three options 1) a no document loan where the lender doesn’t ask too many questions and I pay a high rate 2) a low document loan, not as high a rate but the lender asks my employeer some questions (hopefully not how much I make or how much I work) 3) a home equity loan, rate based on the amount of the loan and my credit score. I went for option #3 and was able to get a loan for 80% of the value of my house.

My 1st invesment property.

This blog is being set-up as a record of my 1st investment property. A 4 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 1/2 story, brick house in Waukegan, Illinois. I’ve been a little slow on setting this up, but not much has happened to this point so I’ll be able to bring it up to date quickly. My new friend Mel has been pushing for this to happen so I’ll try and make him happy.

This story starts in October of 2007 with a comment by Rod, an employer friend of mine. He said something about an investment property would be a good fit for me. Something I had been thinking about off and on for years. Being the right time in my life, and his little shove sent me off full steam ahead. The first issue in buying something is having or having available lots of money. Getting money is where I’ll pick-up next time.