Buying a house after bankruptcy is still possible, despite what a lot of people will tell you, and it's possible to do it well, too. Many people have discharged their debts and then gotten a mortgage, and even more than that have had past credit problems and then bought a home.

The key to getting a good mortgage for anyone is to clean up your credit to the best of your ability.

Due to the severity of the damage that has happened in recent years for you, you'll want to take some time before looking for a home loan. Most lenders will not talk to you about buying a house after bankruptcy for two years. This is actually a good thing, however, because this is about how long it will take you, if not a while longer, to really improve things.

Approximately a month after things have been finalized you want to get a copy of your credit report and check it over for mistakes. Anything that is marked open or overdue that was included in your bankruptcy is a problem, you'll need to call these companies immediately and keep calling until they change things.

Once this is all cleaned up you'll want to move forward. A steady stream of income is of course the first and most vital part of your finances, so this is top priority. Then you'll want to work on building a history of positive credit use. There are two main types of payments that make up your financial history: installment (loans) and revolving (credit cards). To build up a history you want to build a steady history with both of these.

Most financial companies that offer these opportunities won't work with you right now, but you can find secured loans and secured credit cards that will work with you. Start off with a secured card at your bank, and use this very lightly, paying it off in full each month.

Building up your credit doesn't have to be hard, with a well thought out plan over the next two years you can work towards buying a house after bankruptcy.