Can I use my husbands income to qualify for a mortgage without adding him to the loan?

[Anonymous]

All this advice has me thinking that maybe I should wait a little longer. I live and South Florida and wanted to take advantage of the drop in home prices, because before we were totally priced out. My lease is up in January and at that time I was going to sign just a 7 month lease so we could purchase a home during the summer. Now I'm thinking I should just sign another year lease and purchase a home in January of 2009. This would allow me to save more money and pay off more cc debt. It will also give us more time to raise my husbands credit scores. He is up for a promotion in January that would raise his yearly income by $15 thousand a year. My goal is to put the extra income in savings since we are getting by just fine on what we make now. I know I am rambling but what do you guys think? Should I wait? My fear is home prices will once again increase and we will be left out again.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

I don't think home prices are going to skyrocket up anytime soon in Florida, unless all of the past easy-qualifying financing programs come back again, and that's not happening in the next 5-10 years, the U.S. has definitely learned it's lesson.  However I do think you should find out if you can get approved now, and what the terms would be... if you don't get approved at least you'll know why and have something to work on rather than guess at what needs to be done to qualify down the road.  You don't have to purchase now if you get approved, but at least it'll give you an idea of what's available now so you can make an educated and informed decision on waiting vs. buying now.

[Anonymous]

Shane thanks again for the great advice. I will definitely find out if I can get approved. I have two other questions. First, Do you think a lender will accept current copies of our three credit reports along with our FICO's just to see if we have a chance? I don't want several hard inquires to show up only to find out there is no way I will qualify. I simply want to know if I have a chance. Second, When it comes to having 4-6 months of reserves will lenders take into consideration the amount I have saved in my 403(b)? Currently I have $10 thousand in it and I contribute $300 monthly. This is in addition to the $15 thousand I have in savings.   

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

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ladylpk74 wrote:

Shane thanks again for the great advice. I will definitely find out if I can get approved. I have two other questions. First, Do you think a lender will accept current copies of our three credit reports along with our FICO's just to see if we have a chance? I don't want several hard inquires to show up only to find out there is no way I will qualify. I simply want to know if I have a chance. Second, When it comes to having 4-6 months of reserves will lenders take into consideration the amount I have saved in my 403(b)? Currently I have $10 thousand in it and I contribute $300 monthly. This is in addition to the $15 thousand I have in savings.   

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They should be willing to look them over, but for your situation (high debt ratio and spouse with so-so credit) a credit report would definitely need to be pulled in order to determine if you'd qualify or not.  If your 403b can be cashed out then yes, 70% of the "vested amount" will be used towards qualifying reserves.  You'd want to make sure you speak to someone who has a variety of loan programs and who, if you don't qualify now, is willing to give advice on how to improve your situation to qualify down the road.