The Road To Homeownership

Hi Paul,

Ok, here’s the deal:  We are trying to become first time home owners. 

We want to get a mortgage in my husbands name because my credit is beyond repair.  His credit report shows 8 collections, 6 of which are medical, and the other 2 are a cable and gas bill.  We want to pay these off. 

The 6 medical collections total $1399.00 and the other two are $504.00.  Which ones should we focus on?  Do medical collections count towards your credit score?  I heard that they show on your report but dont affect your score, not sure about that??? 

I had asked you where we should start, about 8 months ago, and was told to open up some accounts…since then we opened 4 credit card accounts and have been paying them on time and they show as accounts in good standing. 

I know that I should do a pay for delete, but would like some advice.  Is getting a home way way out of the question or do we have a chance???  Thanks for your help!!

Heidi

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Hi Heidi,

I did a sight search and couldn’t find where I said “open up some accounts”.  Opening new accounts is helpful to improve a credit score, although it may make it slightly more difficult to negotiate with the other eight collections.  In any regard, I still say Buy Me A House! Ooops, medical debt…

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul