One year later ShortBus buys house; hangs up credit repair spikes.

[ShortBus]

It's been one crazy year. It started off with Orchard Bank sending me an unsolicited CC app in the mail. I figured "what the heck?" and sent it in. I was shocked when I was actually approved for a $300 limit. This is was spurred me to finally face my credit ("hey, mine can't be too bad, right?") and begin the journey we're all on here. I also convinced my girlfriend to let me work on her credit as well.

In the past year I've sent more DV and GW letters than I can count. I've made many phone calls and sent even more emails. I filed a FDCPA suit against a JDB in small claims court and negotiated with their lawyer. I've gotten a redeemed repo, a judgment, and more misc junk removed than I can remember. I've gotten *all* derog info removed from my girlfriend's CRs, boosting her FICO from the low 500's to mid 700's. My FICO has gone from the low 500's to 629.

Between the two of us, we also have about $30k in revolving credit lines now too. In fact, she just got a letter from Sterling Jewelers yesterday telling her they boosted her CL from $5k to $7.6k (apparently for no reason, she's only used the Jared card and only once, a while ago).

It's been a long, tedious process. I bet I can use the automated postage machine to send a CMRRR letter while blindfolded. But it finally paid off in spades yesterday. We just closed on our first home:

4 bed, 3 bath, 3287 sq ft. Sits on an acre of wooded land with a huge backyard that backs up to a state-owned hunting preserve.

It was also a foreclosure that we got a really good deal on and is in excellent condition. We're paying for it with a 30-yr. fixed, FHA-insured mortgage at 5.375%.

My point is that all the stress and waiting (and waiting some more) that is part of credit repair is 100% worth it. So stick with it. I took a couple of breaks that lasted a month or so, but the two biggest reasons I was successful are: 1) dogged persistence and 2) everyone her at CIC. So: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I say that even to the newbies who ask more questions than they answer. I probably learned more from other people's questions than my own.

The rest of my baddies are going to fall off within the next 2-3 years, so I'm officially retiring my credit repair process. I'll probably still be around from time-to-time, but just not as active. I have learned an amazing amount about both buying a house and credit repair over the past year. However, if I had to give just a single piece of parting advice, it would be this:

Don't start your credit repair until you are on a firm financial footing. It's not a cheap endeavor, but more importantly, it's impossible to dig yourself out of a hole when someone keeps dumping more dirt on you. If you don't have a good job or know how to properly manage your money, trying to repair your credit will be utterly frustrating: one step forward, three steps back. So take it a step at a time, stick with it, but work on the money thing first.