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Should I just rent a nice little house and call it a day?

I'm 52, retired from the Army and I receive $53k in retirement income for life (with COLA adjustments each year). I have $50k in savings spread out among several CDs generating $200/month in additional income. I have no debt other than everyday expenses, free health care for life and no dependents outside of looking after my elderly mother.

Here is my dilemma. I have a 497 FICO score. Even with my VA Home Loan Guaranty, no bank or mortgage lender will approve me for a home loan. Even if I did find a lender, the interest rate would be insanely high.

It doesn't matter what the VA does and does not require like no down payment or minimum credit score requirement, banks still provide the financing and do require a down payment and minimum credit score - Veterans with good credit can take advantage of the no down payment requirement.

My question is should I just rent a nice little house in a MCOL city by paying a years' worth of rent upfront to get past my credit score issue? I'm currently paying $1,706 all in for two small (boxes) connected studio apartments for myself and my mother.

Average rent in my city is around $1,500-$2,000 for a nice 1,200-2,000 sq. ft. SFR. Some rentals are slightly less, but they don't stay on the market long.

Any thoughts, ideas or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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submitted by /u/MichaelJamesDean21
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/183jnzj/should_i_just_rent_a_nice_little_house_and_call/
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