Found a house I love... now i need SIVA

[Mike]

I am looking to purchase a home in Ventura County in S. Cal. I have approx 75K saved up and just stumbled accross a house that I fell in love with. I now really want to find a way to make it work. The home is bank owned and appraises for about $550K (according to the agent). The asking price is 525,000. I did some research and the funny thing is that the the sales history shows that the home sold in March for 360K... and it is now a REO. I am assuming that the 360K is the amount of the loan balance? Not sure how that works. Anyways, I would like to know how realistic it would be for me to qualify for a loan on this place. The problem is that I have not filed for my 2007 taxes because I am still waiting on a 1099 from one of my accounts. I am self employed and own a successful business and earn about 120K a year. Are there any loans out there that could work for me? My credit is good... a 700 score with no negatives in the last 5 years. There is some wierd Verizon collection for $800 from 5 years ago, and I am not sure what that is as I have never not paid a phone bill. I have tried to dispute it, with no luck. Can anyone give me some insight? I know loans are very difficult to get nowdays. I really love this house, and would love to find a way to make it work. I have done the math and have very little debt, so I know feel confident being able to afford the mortgage payments, taxes, etc. Thank you.p.s. this area is considered a declining market