Moving in with your honey is always an exciting time, but what happens when you are trying to buy a house and your significant other cannot qualify for a mortgage? Does that mean you can’t move into your own home? Today, the lending guidelines are tighter than ever and that means that more and more prospective buyers are running into a real dilemma. Here are some tips to get you through.
1 – Don’t Place Blame
If you don’t have a problem qualifying, it is easy to place blame on your partner, but don’t do it! Discuss the situation and stay action-oriented. Consider a different plan to owning a home together.
2 – Find Problems and Fix Them
Talk to your mortgage broker about why one of you can’t get qualified and see what you can do to fix it. If it has something to do with unemployment, there may not be much you can do, but if it has something to do with a credit score, you may be on your way to moving into a better position.
3 – Get Qualified On Your Own
If you can’t fix the qualification issues for your partner, see about qualifying on your own. However, this may mean you’ll be moving into a home that you own solely as most banks won’t allow a non-borrower to go onto the title.
4 – Get a Cosigner
Check with the loan broker or bank to see if it is possible to get a cosigner on the mortgage. This is also known as a “non-occupant co-borrower” and may mean the difference between moving into a place of your own and staying where you are.
Jon Huser
