Question regarding Student Loans and Mortgages - It was suggested I post here as well.

[Ineedaname]

Hello, I've got my house on the market to sell (and keeping my fingers crossed).  My plan is to sell my house and take some of the equity and pay my son's tuition for one year (payment is due to the school in late August).  However, I'm starting to panic that my house won't sell and I may need to co-sign on a loan for him.

My question is, if I co-sign a loan and then 30-45 days later apply for a mortgage, will my credit have taken a huge hit?  My credit scores are just coming up over 650 now after 5 years of bailing myself out of debt.  While I know my credit score is fragile and don't want to do anything to lower it, I really want my son to be able to go to school.

We don't have anyone else to be able to co-sign a loan for him and he is unable to get one without a co-signer. 

[Ineedaname]

Hello, I've got my house on the market to sell (and keeping my fingers crossed).  My plan is to sell my house and take some of the equity and pay my son's tuition for one year (payment is due to the school in late August).  However, I'm starting to panic that my house won't sell and I may need to co-sign on a loan for him.

My question is, if I co-sign a loan and then 30-45 days later apply for a mortgage, will my credit have taken a huge hit?  My credit scores are just coming up over 650 now after 5 years of bailing myself out of debt.  While I know my credit score is fragile and don't want to do anything to lower it, I really want my son to be able to go to school.

We don't have anyone else to be able to co-sign a loan for him and he is unable to get one without a co-signer. 

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

It's tough to say if your score will take a huge hit or not.  But usually after a new account is opened you'll see an immediate small decrease in your scores, and will improve a little each month.

I don't have children, but to me the right thing to do would be for my son to go to school even if it meant delaying my own house purchase a few months.  Somehow I think you'll feel better if you do what you need to do in order for your son to go to school.

Have you become pre-approved yet?  With your home on the market, I think it'd alleviate some of your stress if you went through the pre-approval process.  Credit reports are good for 90 days (120 days if you are buying new construction), so you can essentially lock in your scores now with a credit check and if you get the new student loan between now and closing then you'd just need to provide the new loan paperwork to document the account #/balance/payment.

[Ineedaname]

Thank you so much for your reply!  I agree that my son's education is the most important thing right now. 

I'm going to give the Mortgage Broker I'm working with a call and talk with them.