How hard it is really depends on how hard you expect it to be. If you're frustrated throughout the whole process, then this is going to be very difficult for you. If you accept that really, everything financial at this point is a process, then you're going to have a much easier time jumping through the hoops to get a mortgage after bankruptcy. Getting through this takes a lot of time, work, and most of all, emotional strength and patience. As much of a blow this financial mess has taken on your finances, it often takes a much harsher emotional toll, and it's important that you deal with that before you move forward.

Counseling to deal with everything that has happened to you is often a very good idea. People often experience cycles of feelings that they rinse through, and then repeat, such as anger, guilt, shame, and embarrassment. These feelings often lead to avoidance. Even if you go ahead and decide you want to get a home loan and start going down the long path and taking the steps to make all of this work for you, if you start going through a cycle of these emotions and then start avoiding your finances, you could end up in a big financial mess again—even if the initial troubles you had were not originally caused by you, it's easy to fall into this trap. Keep your emotions in check from the beginning so that you can get yourself on a good path to recovery.

Now, with your emotions being dealt with, how hard is it to get a mortgage after bankruptcy? The process takes at least two years after you initially discharge your debts. This is a minimum number as lenders won't even consider working with you until you reach the two year point, but really, it can take longer, even with the best laid plans, so it's important to have a clear plan laid out that you're going to follow to keep yourself on track.

Lenders want to see that you've done things after bankruptcy to rebuild your finances. They want to know that in your new life you can handle making payments on time and see a history of that to prove it to them. That's why over those two years you want to try and build up a positive payment history on varied accounts. Secured credit cards and small secured loans are a great way to work on rebuilding your history and slowly, over time, showing that you can handle your payments. Be careful with your budget because any missed payments will count double against you because of the bankruptcy black mark.

Getting an after bankruptcy mortgage can be really difficult because of the time it takes to rebuild your credit, and handling the emotional toll of going through this whole process, but if you really want to move forward and live your life, you have to simply find the strength to go through it.