Marriage and Property question

[izzesparks]

Not sure  I am in the right section for this question, I have only ever posted in the rebuilding credit section. Well first I want to say I am separated from my husband for a few months now, after eating a ton of ice cream and sitting in my room and avoiding my friends, I am ready to get my fresh start. So a few weeks ago I pulled my reports and started sorting through it and raising my scores. My goal is to buy my own home in my name. My question is it OK or smart to buy a home now before I am divorced? Can he get claim to it? How can I keep him from taking part of my home without getting a divorce first?

Yes I want a divorce, just can't afford a divorce lawyer right now because I am unemployed. I will have a job soon I hope. And my scores should be good enough to get an FHA loan by early spring, and I already found 3 homes I really really like and would like to put an offer on one of them within the next couple of months. Divorce takes too long, and these houses will be gone by then I think. Is there anyway around the divorce thing and property claims.

Someone said that if I can get my mom or sister to buy the home with me as a primary then maybe he can't get it, but I think I read somewhere that he could still get  ownership on my part of the home, is this true? Could he just write a letter stating he won't take claim to the house before I purchase it?

Thanks for any advice!!

[MarineVietVet]

Hi izzesparks,

I'm going to move this to the Mortgage Loans board. I think you'll get a better response there because there some really sharp folks who visit ML's.

MarineVietVet, myFICO moderator

[izzesparks]

Thanks MarineVietVet!!!

[izzesparks]

bump for replies

[IOBA]

1.  What state are you in?

2.  Are you legally separated?

3.  If you are unemployed now, you think you would be eligible for a home in a few months?

My suggestions would be to become legally separated (filing that separation with the courts).  It basically says you are individually responsible for any and all debt you incur (this would include a home purchase).

In your separatation agreement, make sure you specify who will be paying any joint bills.  Remember, those joint bills could show up on your credit report.

[Booner72]

To add to IOBA's questions:

Are you in a community property state?

Is your almost-ex going to want to try to get part of the house?

is your family going to cosign the loan?  Or are they just doing the loan and then putting you on the deed? 

What is your source of income?

Edited to add:  i just saw your scores.  You will  not be able to even be a cosigner on the loan until your scores are 620-640+, as lenders go with the person with the lowest scores middle score.

[IOBA]

How can you see her scores?   I swear, my computer doesn't show me all the siggy lines!

[Booner72]

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@IOBA wrote:

How can you see her scores?   I swear, my computer doesn't show me all the siggy lines!

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Yep, she has 3 lines of scores.......That's weird.  OP's in 550 midscore range.

[izzesparks]

I am in Michigan, I am not legally separated just yet, will be filing very soon.

Also I am not sure what my family will be willing to do, we just started discussing it, we first need to know if it is even possible to do that legally, don't want to stress anyone out for no reason. Although the homes I am looking at are all under 49K.

My soon to be EX says he will not try to take claim on my home, he knows how much I have wanted one, and knows it is his fault I haven't gotten one yet. But I just want to make it legal just in case. We are not on bad terms (at least not yet) but he wants me back and he may try to use the home to get me to stay with him. So I don't want him having any claim to it.

Well I just got a job today (YIPPEEEEEEE ), and I am going to try to see about get transferred from my old job to my new location, because they still have me as an employee in the system so if I can even just get 1 day a week there, I wont have a break in employment and I have been there over 2 yrs.

Also even without a job I am sure I will be able to afford it because with child support and spousal support I will be OK. The mortgage payments are est.. To be $187/month, with taxes and insurance around $379/month/ with limited cable, cell phone, heat, electric, water; I estimate my total monthly payments will be $698. That is cheaper than what I will be renting for in a couple of months and that includes all my bills. Right now I am staying with my sister until everything on my credit report is paid off, I only have 2 high priced and 1 low priced items left.

And yes my credit scores are low right now, mainly because I have absolutely NO open credit reporting right now, I applied for 4 credit cards and was approved for 3 of them, 2 secured, and 1 unsecured as soon as I get those I know my scores will increase, and I will keep my utilization under 10%. 

And Actually thanks to this incredible forum my scores have skyrocketed in less than 30 days, because when I bought my scores again in Dec 22, 2011, I was in the 470's. Mainly because some stuff in my husband's file ended up on mine, so I either just paid them ( didn't want to deal with him) or got them removed. I have one more item of his that is $1900 that they refuse to remove   But I kept get alerts like every few days saying my score has increased, just 4 days ago I got a 25 point increase. So all the advice given to me has worked like a charm!

I don't plan on buying a till spring/early summer so I still have time to increase my scores, my problem is getting either divorced or legally separated by then.

Hope this info helps for any further advice you can give me!! Thanks so much!

[haulingthescoreup]

First things first, IMO.

• Keep working on your credit. You will want to have 2-3 clean open revolving accounts that are at least six months old. (This will help your scores, too.) Pull all three full credit reports from annualcreditreport.com and make sure that you and your husband have absolutely NO open joint credit.
• Congrats on the job! Keep that steady income history going. Mortgage lenders, even for very inexpensive homes, are going to want to see that you have stable employment. Child and spousal support can suddenly vanish, even when the ex has good intentions. (Think job loss, medical crisis, etc.)
• Build up savings. Home ownership is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to unexpected expenses.
• And at a minimum, get that legal separation document established; preferably, get your divorce final. You don't necessarily have to have a lawyer. DXH and I used a mediator, because we weren't arguing about terms, and the mediator drew up the p/w and went to court with me. Check out Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce, a good guide to help you be aware of all the little surprises that can happen with a divorce.

Owning a home is exciting and can be very fulfilling, but it's also a huge responsibility. Save it for a reward once you're independent and established on your own two feet.

If you haven't already, read through many of the stickies at the top of this board, so that you'll know what to work on to qualify for a mortgage.

Best wishes!