Maui Realtors, Betty and Elizabeth, sit down and advise people with bad credit on how they can start the real estate purchase process. - Ask our Maui experts!

Betty: Aloha, Betty Sakamoto here with Elizabeth Quayle, answering questions from our blog mail. The question that I’m thinking is important right now or the one that has come up so many times is the question from the person who wants to buy a home, maybe they’ve had a little bit of iffy credit. What do you advise someone to do then, how can they get the process started? Maybe it takes time, but how do they do that?

Elizabeth: The first step is you need to speak to a lender. Lending guidelines have changed substantially in the last ten years. The loan process has become extremely controlled. The first thing you need to do is find a reputable lender that will walk you through the process. They will also help you with suggestions on how to fix this particular credit issue that may exist and the timeframe because often times you’re moving against the clock because the values of the property may be going up and you want to make certain that you’re able to get a loan at the time that the value is affordable to you. That’s one of the really important reasons to go to a good lender and you have to be organized and have all of your paperwork in order for the but we do have lenders that will walk you through the process and we certainly are here to help you through all of it.

B: Kind of the long and short of it in trying to answer this question for someone is contact your real estate broker, we’d be real happy if you contacted us at Sakamoto Properties, but in any event, contact your real estate broker, your broker can assist you with who to talk to from the standpoint of the lender. Sometimes just talk to your bank, you’re in there making a deposit, ask who the person is handling mortgage loans and you’ll have a lot of answers right away but I know that we can help you in many ways so give us a call, which you’re on our site right now the odds are pretty good but (808) 669-0070 and you’re on SakamotoProperties.com.

E: I always remember the Sakamoto phone number, it reminds me of James Bond. Six-six-nine-double O-seven.

B: There you go!