Buyers are coming back into the housing market after losing their homes during the financial crisis — returning to homeownership more quickly than lenders have typically allowed.
With millions of families with recent foreclosures on their records, some report that they are having luck buying a house — in some cases within three years.
Jason Strotheide, for example, bought his house in Charlotte, Mich., from his grandfather. After Strotheide refinanced the house to pay for renovations, payments increased, causing the family to rely more on ballooning credit. In early 2010, he and his wife filed for bankruptcy protection and lost their home to foreclosure.
"When we first walked away from the mortgage, I actually said that we'd never buy again," Strotheide says.
With his debts wiped clean, Strotheide now rents, relies almost exclusively on cash and pays everything on the first of the month — which has boosted his credit score back up to nearly 700. He says he'd like to live more off the grid, eating his own farm produce and raising livestock. So in the spring — exactly three years after his foreclosure — Strotheide plans to buy another property.
"We're looking for a place where we can get, maybe, five acres of land, a couple of outbuildings, a modest house and just enough space to grow the produce that we need for our family," Strotheide says.