Should me OR my wife have our name on the Mortgage?

[jmoney1]

Hi, due to some credit fraud that I am now fighting, my credit rating has been bumped down to right under 700. However, my wife'd rating is around 740ish. Therefore, to give us a better chance at getting a mortgage, should we just allow for her name to be on everything so that my rating will not negatively affect the process? Thank you , I am new at this.

[disneysteve]

If she can qualify for the mortgage on her own, I don't think putting the loan in her name is a problem.

We've actually had the opposite problem when buying my wife's car. Her income wasn't sufficient to qualify for the loan so it had to be in both of our names.

[btctony]

Mortgage lenders use the lowest middle score, if you're both on the loan. Before you make a decision, have the lenders you are shopping pull both and figure out what works best.

If you live in a community property state and are seeking an FHA (or any govt backed) loan, you won't have a choice. Non-purchasing spouse plays into it. If conventional, that does not apply.

Also, the loan can be in one persons name and the title can still be in both.

[Retired To Win]

Mortgage lenders use the lowest middle score, if you're both on the loan. Before you make a decision, have the lenders you are shopping pull both and figure out what works best.

If you live in a community property state and are seeking an FHA (or any govt backed) loan, you won't have a choice. Non-purchasing spouse plays into it. If conventional, that does not apply.

Also, the loan can be in one persons name and the title can still be in both.

This is a HUGE point to keep in mind. By making sure that both spouses are on the title as joint owners, the property will bypass all inheritance/probate mumbo jumbo and seamlessly go to the surviving spouse. So BE SURE you get a joint title (IMHO)

[jmoney1]

Thank you all so much. Hopefully the question will help out others. So I see that title should be in both of our names. However, if the loan is in both of our names (which will help my credit as well), we should be able to qualify for a loan based upon which of us has the better credit history and score correct? Thanks

[btctony]

Generally speaking, the lender will pull all three of your FICO scores. Six total if we're talking about both of you. They will use the lowest middle score and forget the rest.

The loan amount you qualify for will differ in an instance of only one of you applying for the loan as opposed to both. If both of you are on the loan and both of you work, the loan amount you qualify for will be based off two incomes. If only one of you applies for the loan, the max loan amount is only based off that persons income. Debt to Income Ratio also plays a big part in the loan amount you will qualify for.

Take a look at the MyFico forums. There is a mortgage loan section and there are a few lenders that frequent the board that will gladly answer questions specific to your situation.

[thomasdan]

My understanding is that if your wife was able to qualify for the loan by herself, that you can still atleast add you to the deed.

[jmoney1]

Thanks all!

Generally speaking, the lender will pull all three of your FICO scores. Six total if we're talking about both of you. They will use the lowest middle score and forget the rest.

The loan amount you qualify for will differ in an instance of only one of you applying for the loan as opposed to both. If both of you are on the loan and both of you work, the loan amount you qualify for will be based off two incomes. If only one of you applies for the loan, the max loan amount is only based off that persons income. Debt to Income Ratio also plays a big part in the loan amount you will qualify for.

Take a look at the MyFico forums. There is a mortgage loan section and there are a few lenders that frequent the board that will gladly answer questions specific to your situation.

The problem in my situation is that as a graduate student, I am not working full time. However, she is working full time (teacher), Therefore, I just hope that if we BOTH apply for the loan, it would not hurt our chances of getting it since I am not working, and my credit isn't the greatest. Ahhh You all are such a big help.

[btctony]

Thanks all! The problem in my situation is that as a graduate student, I am not working full time. However, she is working full time (teacher), Therefore, I just hope that if we BOTH apply for the loan, it would not hurt our chances of getting it since I am not working, and my credit isn't the greatest. Ahhh You all are such a big help.

If you have very little income and lots of student loan debt or debt of any other kind (car loan, credit cards, ect.), it may very well be better to only have her on the loan. I would talk to a lender and explore both options though. When you sit down and give the lender the details of your situation, they'll be able to give you an idea of what will work best.

My opinion without knowing the exact details is that if you're not working and have negatives on your credit report, you probably won't bring anything positive to the table. You would be bringing little income, debt (if you have any), and credit issues. If you said you make 80K a year, that would put another spin on things, because that income would give you the ability to qualify for a higher loan amount and may offset the fact that your credit report is not stellar.

[btctony]

My understanding is that if your wife was able to qualify for the loan by herself, that you can still atleast add you to the deed.

That is correct. Title/Deed can be in both names and only one person on the loan with the exception of any govt backed loan (FHA, USDA, VA), if they live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin).

[jmoney1]

If you have very little income and lots of student loan debt or debt of any other kind (car loan, credit cards, ect.), it may very well be better to only have her on the loan. I would talk to a lender and explore both options though. When you sit down and give the lender the details of your situation, they'll be able to give you an idea of what will work best.

My opinion without knowing the exact details is that if you're not working and have negatives on your credit report, you probably won't bring anything positive to the table. You would be bringing little income, debt (if you have any), and credit issues. If you said you make 80K a year, that would put another spin on things, because that income would give you the ability to qualify for a higher loan amount and may offset the fact that your credit report is not stellar.

Thanks. I suppose the credit union i plan on going to would be willing to explore both options. I mean it DOES profit them to give out mortgages.