Eleven months

I grew up in real estate.  As a matter of fact just this year my parents retired from it at the age of 61 and now they are obsessed with moving to Florida...  because real estate is so cheap!  So when I was out of college I began a career in the mortgage business.  By the age of 24 I was a branch manager of one of the largest mortgage companies in the U.S.  This meant I not only originated loans but I also underwrote them.  Back in the day the branch manager made the decisions.  We did not have automated systems telling us who was and who was not approved for a loan.  We had to analyze and make a sound decision based on certain criteria.
So one Sunday driving home from the gym I noticed an open house at the end of my street.  It was a gorgeous bungalow priced at $60,000 and I had not one thought before that day of owning my own home.  But there I was, ready to sign a contract. 
The next day I applied with the employee loan division and started my process.  By the end of the day I got the call...  Denied!  It seems I had two problems:  1)  I did not have much credit  2)  I had been issued two credit cards in college that I took straight to the travel agent and purchased a spring break trip for myself and a friend, and then NEVER paid the bill!  Whoops.
So that day I started.  I started being conscious of my credit because now I had a reason.  It took me 6 months but I called the collectors and worked out an agreement on the credit cards.  I also established two secured credit cards and paid every month on time.  This became a fun challenge for me - the credit card companies noticed my timeliness and rewarded me with higher credit lines.  11 months later I was driving to Home Depot and saw an open house sign in a very small historic neighborhood just off downtown.  From the outside I already could tell this was a house I probably could not afford but out of curiosity I walked in.  This home was amazing!  It was for sale by owner and she had decided to retire to AZ.  She was a master gardener and the house was as beautiful outside as it was inside.  The house was of course out of my price range...BUT!  There was a guest house in the back that brought in $600/mo rent.  I could barely sleep that night and in the morning called again to the employee loan division.  That afternoon when I got the call it actually brought tears to my eyes.  Approved!
When I look back now 11 months does not seem very long.  I had spent more than four years before that blatantly disregarding my credit and in 11 months was able to accomplish one of my biggest lifetime achievements.  That was one of the proudest moments of my life and I still drive by that house today.  This is the reason I do what I do, you see, helping each other achieve our dreams is what its all about!