Answer: -Filing for bankruptcy won't help your credit score... it will make it worse. Keep renting, repair your credit. Talk to a loan officer at a bank or credit union about how to improve your credit. Take their advice.Loans are based on several things. Your credit history, your length of employement at your current job, your debt-to-income ratio, the value of the collateral (in this case property) compared to how much you want to borrow, AND your 'character' as perceived by a loan office.You don't always need 20% down payment... sometimes that amount can be a second loan. Bankruptcy is not for'convenience' sake. It is SUPPOSED to be for those who can't repay their debts due to some significant situation which IS BEYOND THEIR CONTROL. It will NOT improve your credit rating. It will NOT improve your chances of getting a loan and it will NOT improve the terms of any loan you get.Repair your credit rating. You created it yourself...fix it yourself. It can and has been done. -First of all 600 is not that bad. It depends on why your score is 600. Only if your score is under 500 are you in serious jeopardy of not being able to qualify for a home loan. I would have to see your credit report to advise you exactly how to raise your score but a 620+ can get you a 100% loan and your income is very realistic as well. I don't know why you are even considering BK. You didn't give a reason. BK will prevent you from getting any credit at all! BK is a last resort. Your best bet is to contact a loan officer/broker and let him pull your credit report and do a financial analysis for you or a "pre-qual" to let you know exactly how much of a home loan you can qualify for. I would be happy to assist you with this. Theres no charge or obligation. -Filing bankruptcy won't help your chances of getting a mortgage, but it will give you a fresh start. There are a lot of misconceptions about bankruptcies. First, file Ch 7 not Ch 13; why prolong the agony? Second, it won't necessarily hurt your credit. You have horrible credit now; how much worse can it get? Third, file Ch 7 and keep all your accounts current up until the day of discharge, regardless of what your BK attorney tells you. I've seen people walk out of a discharge with 650+ credit scores that way.Now, if buying a home is your main goal, you have some good advice above. You can qualify for 100% financing with scores as low as 580. You will be in the B-paper or subprime category, probably looking at rates in the high 8s or 9s, but that's the price you pay for bad credit. Get a 2 year ARM, file bankruptcy and reaffirm the mortgage, then refinance when the discharge is two years old and you're eligible for Fannie Mae A-paper rates.