Newbie has buy/lease question...

[rebelyankSC]

Hey All!  I am brand new here, just ran my credit/scores.  TransUnion =779 and Equifax = 804.   I am assuming I should get a good rate with these scores??   I want to either buy or lease a new car.  My hubby has a great FT steady job and I do too but I work for tips - if you know what I mean.  How will this translate to a dealer?  I usually earn in 1 week what the calculator says I can afford for the month.  

Thanks!!

RebelYankSC

[cdtotten]

Your credit scores are great, so no issues there. Your income will be the road block in the process. Usually lenders will not go above a DTI ratio of 50%. What was your W-2 income last year? Are you receiving a large amount of cash tips you aren't reporting?

Most lenders will verify employment, verifying pay is a toss up. They could ask for a W-2 for the last year, a couple paystubs, etc. With your household income, it sounds like you could simply add your husband as a co-signer if that is an issue.

[rebelyankSC]

Hi cdtotten,

Thank you for responding.  I guess, my question is really about my income.  To answer your question regarding cash tips...yes you are correct. (sure hope you don't work for the IRS)      but oddly because of where we now reside, that is considered "normal"  as we live in a resort driven area.    I am pretty sure the dealers here are used to that-it's the wave of the economy that worries me.  That they might be tightening up their lending practices.   Our debt to income is less than 10% but this time I would like to purchase my car without my husband on the loan-simply because we purchased our cars with-in 1 month of each other 10 years ago and they both went under his name.  We were thinking of doing them separate this time-especially because he's most likely going to be purchasing one within the next year as well.  I have been at my current employer just over a year  and since we moved to this state, have been continually employed in the "serving/bartending field unlike the last 20 years in the corporate world.   The paystubs//W2 are not really a good indicator of the true numbers but they show stability.  

[cdtotten]

I completely understand your situation, but my concern is that lenders are only going to be able to consider verifiable income. They can't additionally consider income that is being shielded from income taxes. If they do request a W-2 or pay-stubs, they will have to go with the income listed on those documents. If that causes your DTI to shoot up, then you may have to consider adding a co-signer.

Good luck!

[rebelyankSC]

Thanks again!!