If you have recently filed for bankruptcy you may be feeling helpless, fearful and probably going through a torrid financial time. In such a grim scenario, owning your own home may seem distant and completely out of reach. However, the reality is that it is a lot easier to get a home mortgage even after personal bankruptcy. In fact, you have a better chance of getting a mortgage in bankruptcy than you do if you just have bad credit. There are many lenders who actually have special programs designed for people who have recently emerged from bankruptcy, and if you do enough searching online you will find them.

The key to getting a bankruptcy mortgage is patience. It is generally standard to wait about two or three years after the bankruptcy discharge before attempting to get a bankruptcy mortgage. This is because lenders have a sort of unwritten 2 year rule for loan applications after bankruptcy. You can use this period to build up solid lines of credit and improve your credit score. Develop a budget, check your credit report regularly to weed out all the errors and inaccuracies and pay your bills on time. These bills include not just your credit card bills, but also your telephone and electricity bills. This will all work together to improve your credit report. Once you have reached the stage where your credit is starting to improve, you’ll gradually begin to receive numerous offers for credit.

You’ll probably be tempted to go out and use your new found credit to purchase things that you have been doing without during your bankruptcy. However this is the stage at which you need to exercise some discipline and common sense. You should never forget your painful and devastating bankruptcy experience. In addition, mortgage lenders will want to be confident that you have learned serious financial lessons from your bankruptcy experience, and that you will be able to afford your mortgage payments. If you have too many other financial obligations, they’ll come to the conclusion that you are overextending yourself again and that you have not learned your lesson at all.

It is also not impossible to get a mortgage after bankruptcy sooner than the 2 years from the time of discharge. However, you will need to have an almost flawless credit history since your bankruptcy discharge. You can usually achieve this as long as at least most of your payments have been reported to the credit bureau as having been paid on time since your bankruptcy discharge. If you have a larger than normal down payment for the mortgage, that may be enough to help you get approved.

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