Couples Buying a Home: Should You Apply Together or Separate?

As rent payments rise and home mortgage interest rates fall, many couples today are opting to buy a house together instead of renting. Buying a house has a lot of advantages that renting does not, so there is no surprise that a lot of couples would rather own a house together. Before you start looking to buy a home, you and your significant other should talk about how you will apply for a home mortgage at the Lake of the Ozarks. Will you apply for the mortgage together or separate? MHQ Mortgage HeadQuarters has some advice for you.


Monthly Income and Assets
There are a few things to consider before you decide what will be the best route for your home mortgage. Whether you apply singly or jointly, your loan officer will look at a few factors to see if you qualify. They will look at your gross monthly income and any available assets. If you file together, combing both your monthly incomes and assets can help you qualify for your home mortgage.

Debt
Another major component your lender will look at is your debt. They will take your gross monthly income and your debt to arrive at your debt-to-income ratio. Your debt-to-income ratio plays a large role in qualification for a home mortgage. For a conventional loan, a qualifying ratio is typically a ratio of 45%. In certain situations, a higher debt-to-income ratio of up to 50% could be allowed, while some VA loans go up to 60%. Everyone’s situation is unique and there are a lot of factors that go into qualifying for a mortgage.

Credit Score
Your credit score also plays a large role in qualifying for a home mortgage. Your credit scores may be a deciding factor on whether to file together or separate. This is because if you file together, your lender will use the lowest credit score of the two people applying for the home loan. Therefore, one person may have a great credit score of 795 and the other with a credit score of 680. Even though one person has the 795, the 680 would be the score that goes on the application.

Qualification
When you are trying to decide whether to file singly or jointly, pricing is something you should also consider. All the factors above influence the price of the loan: interest rates, loan-term, PMI (personal mortgage insurance), and how much you qualify to take out. However, qualification is a yes/no affair. If you only qualify if you file jointly, then that’s what you must do if you want to take out a home loan, regardless of price. You should evaluate all the factors and then decide what will work best for your unique situation. You may be able to get a better loan price if you file jointly, however that is not always the case.

When couples decide that they want to make the next big step and buy a home together, they often start looking for housing immediately. However, if you start looking for a house immediately, you are skipping a big step in the home buying process, talking to your mortgage lender! MHQ Mortgage HeadQuarters can help you with the process of deciding whether you should file singly or jointly. We are the Lake of the Ozarks mortgage professionals. Making a huge financial decision can be stressful, but you shouldn’t have to do it alone, contact us today!


Mortgage Headquarters of Missouri, Inc
4824 Osage Beach Parkway, Suite 1
Osage Beach, MO 65065

Office: (573) 302-9990
Toll Free: (888)799-1206
Fax: (636)648-9917
Email: info@mhqmortgage.com

NMLS # 1229111




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