Find a California lender and get pre-qualified, it just takes a phone call. You also don't need any reserves to purchase with an FHA loan. Call me: Gregorio Denny WeFixRates.Com 8000-335-6897

You don't necessarily need perfect credit to qualify for a home loan. The only way to know for sure is to have your credit pulled to find out your score. Before you do so, you might want to make sure you qualify with your income/assets. A last resort is to use a hard money lender. Best of luck and give me a call if I can help. Sandy

A hard money loan would require 40% down payment. David, if you know your middle FICO score, let us know. If you don't, tell us what you mean by not perfect credit. You also need two months PITI in reserves and a DTI no higher than 45%. Happy funding, Rudi

Do you have a 620 middle credit score, 3.5% down, 2 yr job history? That would be a start to finding out if you can qualify.

David, you would have to be more specific about what the problem is with your credit, but my guess would be like everyone else's here - FHA is probably the way you'll need to go with less than perfect credit. You should seek out a lender in your area who does FHA loans and will be both candid and helpful. The most common mistake I see happening with guys like you is a loan officer making promises too early in the process they can't deliver on and then you get stuck in the middle of a contract losing your earnest money, etc. Just an fyi, FHA is much more lenient in it's guidelines than most lenders allow, but every lender is going to have slightly different "guideline overlays;" they're usually put in place to improve the credit quality of the loans that lender holds, and therefore, you'll probably get a better rate through them, if you fit into that box, but if you don't, it doesn't mean you still can't get a loan. So things like reserve requirements, 620 fico or debt to income restrictions are specific to the lender, but the 3.5% down is an actual program guideline... My advice for you is to find a good mortgage broker; let him/her do the work for you in finding the right lender to buy your loan. It'll be an easier process in your situation, and it won't cost you anything more to do it this way...it'll probably save you.

David, I am located in Costa Mesa, Please call me for more information 949-242-5215