@sealevels: I was not married nor was i engaged when DH and i bought our home. We didn't have to apply for FHA loan. We had the 20%. It is complicated to go through this process when you are not legally married, but not impossible. What we did, we used him to apply for all the applications, since his credit was higher than mine, the bank and my attorney recommended to do this, to get a better morgate rate, which we did and then what we did between the two of us, we prepared an agreement with my attorney, so in case shit were to happen between us, no one loses. GL and best wishes.
We were dating but living together when we first started looking at houses together. By the time we actually put an offer on the house, we were engaged but that still qualifies as single on all of the loan forms. We didn't have any problem with the loan process or closing on the house due to our marital status. Both of our names are on the mortgage paperwork and we put down 20% on the house together.
Good luck with the house hunt!
We also had an attorney help us with our loan, but like the other bees, it was a conventional with 20% down. I'm not sure about FHA, but if you speak to a lawyer, they can probably help you out.
From the research I did 2 years ago when we were first looking, our marital status did not affect our loan eligibility for conventional, and it wasn't an issue when we looked at 203K loans (a Federally-backed loan similar to a traditional FHA loan). The only time I have heard of marital status affecting a loan is for VA. I am pretty sure that VA loans require you to be married in order to have both people on the loan.
@sealevels: We bought our home together in January of 2012 when we were engaged, got the keys at the end of March, DH moved in and I followed suit in June before the wedding in July. We went the FHA route b/c we didn't have enough $ for 20%. It was very simple IMO. Both of our names were on the title and our home broker at the bank combined with our buyers realtor helped us through all the confusing paperwork so it was really easy. Good luck to you and don't worry about not being married yet, it shouldn't be a problem at all, they do this sort of thing with couples all the time. :)
We purchased FHA without being married. Lenders don't care about anything other than your ability to pay them.
We were engaged. We got a conventional loan and put down about 5%, no PMI.
Thank you, ladies. How did you make that first step? My head hurts thinking about it. We've been worried about having enough for a down payment and haven't been able to think about the next step.
@sealevels: First we talked to a mortage broker. Although we were already pretty certain we would be eligible for the loan amount we wanted, we wanted to get pre-approved before we started house hunting. Either talk with a mortage broker or a bank that you already do business with. After we were pre-approved we met with a realtor and told him the specifics of what we wanted and started house hunting!
@sealevels: You need an emergency fund equal to 6 months of your living expenses + a down payment fund (3.5% of purchase price for FHA)+ a closing costs fund (3-6% of purchase price, can sometimes be negotiated into the deal to have seller contribute to CCs, but don't count on it). You will probably also want a little extra set aside for all of the random extra expenses (moving costs, any utility deposits, buying ladders/lawn equipment/heavy duty outdoor trashcans/paint/etc.). I don't know about other Bees, but we have had a near constant outflow of money on the house in the 6 months that we have owned it so far. So building up a significant savings is, IMO, the essential first step.
@sealevels: I started looking at homes online and once we found some we wanted to see we contacted a buyers realtor to show us around; then a friend who also bought a home gave us the name of their guy at the bank so we went to see him. Those two men helped guide us through the process and explain everything to us first time buyers. They made it easy for us, thank goodness!
Oh, and we'd been saving and gotten some large monetary gifts from grandparents to help with our down payment as well.
Thank you thank you!!!
@lovekiss: I read the FHA website and don't remember seeing a 6 month cushion as a requirement. Is this something I missed or a suggestion from you?
We had been married for a month and a half when we found our home. We didn't do FHA, as my husband had just sold his house, so we had the 20%. I was still working on changing my name, so had to explain that to the bank.
@sealevels: It's not a technical requirement for a loan, it's just common sense. If one of you were to have a serious medical event the day after you close on your house, you need to still have enough money to pay those bills, cover the lost income while that person is out of work, pay the mortgage, etc. Or if someone lost a job a week after closing, you need that back-up money. Or if your water heater dies the day that you move in (those suckers don't give any warning. grrr) or... or... or..... There are just so many plausible scenarios. Life happens, so, IMO, it's best to be prepared for it.
And there are lenders who do check to see whether your down payment and closing costs will wipe out your accounts. They want to know that if life happens, you will still be able to pay them back. I don't think this is as big of a deal for FHA lenders because the Fed is guaranteeing that the lender will get paid even if you default 2 months into your loan, but now that the Fed is holding banks accountable for their crappy lending standards (see yesterday's BoA settlement) and even requiring lenders to buy back loans that should never have been made in the first place, I would not be at all surprised to see more of these look behinds even for FHA loans.
@lovekiss: Completely understood. By the time we seriously look for houses, we'll have a cushion. I just didn't know if that was a strict requirement or your suggestion. You're right - we do think about those unexpected breakdowns!
Planning a wedding and trying to buy a house is stressing me out.
Slightly different than your poll: I bought my house when we were still dating and we got married later on. It's still under my name and we didn't have a joint application. I didn't have a single issue securing approval from lenders and just recently refinanced for a lower rate. I'm imagining that even though my boyfriend (at the time) would be helping towards the mortgage payments every month since he lived with me it didn't factor in as an issue because even if he up and left the mortgage would still only be 30% of my income. That's really all the bank cared about - that *I* could afford what they were lending me.
We were engaged when we bought our house. We got engaged in February, purchased our home in June, closed & moved in September and we're getting married next week!
I was single when I purchased my home about four years ago. I put 24% down to avoid PMI and I didn't have any issues getting my mortgage loan. I ended up with one through Wells Fargo at about 4%.
We bought our house with an FHA loan, 5% down, about a year and a half before we got married. I specifically asked the realtor if marital status had anything to do with the purchase process and he said no. I think the only way it affected financing was that we had to each sign our own set of paperwork? Honestly, it makes no difference. Just start with getting preapproved and go from there, with a realtor and mortgage agent who have lots of experience.
@sealevels: Most banks want to see 6 months of reserves (ie money proving you aren't wiping yourself clean). It WAS a technical requirement for the 4 banks we got pre-approved from (traditional, non-FHA). We had to show statements that exceeded the down payment and closing costs by that 6 month buffer. We were able to use our 401k savings as this for the home we bought in November. It's basically 6 months of mortgage + insurance + taxes that you can make liquid and use in a pinch if you guys were to lose your jobs, etc
@crayfish: Understood, but the reason why I'm wondering about it is that my coworker just bought a home through FHA without the 6 month cushion. I know it's not the same for everyone, but the housing market in this city is pretty good for buyers and I haven't heard of it before.
My mother went conventional and she sure didn't have anywhere close to 6 months of financial cushion.
I get the suggestion and it's a good idea, but I don't know many people (homeowners and not) that have 6 months of money just laying around AFTER a 20% down payment and closing costs.
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Hi, bees! FI and I are currently saving up for a home. We're looking into an FHA loan because we would never have the 20% to actually put down on a home. We're good applicants with great credit and good combined income for houses in our city. Therein lies the rub.
We're trying to buy before we're married, but I've been reading around and some major sites say that being unmarried could be a hindrance?
We don't even know how to go about starting to look around. I wouldn't want only one of us to go through the application process. I was talking to my mom and I suggested that maybe we just wouldn't disclose and she said, "The credit check would out you." She just bought a house a year ago.
What did you guys do? Any advice if you went through FHA?