So we got our GFE finally and were approved for $110k (at 6% 
). Sadly that won't buy you much around here so i guess the house hunt will wait another few years until i'm no longer a FT student. And here we spent all our time working on credit scores! Very disappointing but i did want to thank you all (especially Dallas!) for the great contributions to these forums, it made this process a lot less daunting for a newbie 
). Sadly that won't buy you much around here so i guess the house hunt will wait another few years until i'm no longer a FT student. And here we spent all our time working on credit scores! Very disappointing but i did want to thank you all (especially Dallas!) for the great contributions to these forums, it made this process a lot less daunting for a newbie
Thanks guys, i appreciate it
Dallas, not exactly... there was someone else you might be thinking about but yes, we were on one income. My husband makes $45k a year. I believe the problem comes in 2 forms although i'm not certain. I receive $10k a year in child support but it's not being included because we never went to court to have a child support order put in place. We get along so we didn't see it as necessary. He pays in cash because he can't balance a checkbook to save his life but he's never missed a payment in 13 years. I just can't verify it with court documentation. The second factor i suspect is our debt to income ratio. I don't feel like we have a lot of debt but i suppose we don't have a lot of income either, especially considering the child support not being included.
Anyway, thanks again
Lady, Suntrust counted my child support--I had to show proof that I was consistently depositing the cash, because I have an ex like yours as well. There ARE people that will work with you.
I am crossing my fingers for you.
I would honestly see if you could get copies of your bank statements for a year -- that would show a consistent deposit of the child support (assuming that it's the same exact amount each month).
I'm no expert (obviously), but I'd think that if all it takes to explain a large down payment gift from a family member is an affidavit, why couldn't you get an affidavit from your ex stating that you receive CS and will receive CS until XX/XXXX (since I assume that part of the lender's issue is how long you're supposed to GET it)?
Does that make sense??
I just really don't think that it's fair that a good relationship with your ex would be cause to exclude that as a source of income. Lord knows, you're both doing the right thing and not having to resort to the court system to do it! Considering how clogged family courts are, you're saving us taxpayers OODLES of money by both being adults!! You should be *REWARDED* for it, not penalized all for the sake of a not having a court documented paper trail!!
I'm no expert (obviously), but I'd think that if all it takes to explain a large down payment gift from a family member is an affidavit, why couldn't you get an affidavit from your ex stating that you receive CS and will receive CS until XX/XXXX (since I assume that part of the lender's issue is how long you're supposed to GET it)?
Does that make sense??
I just really don't think that it's fair that a good relationship with your ex would be cause to exclude that as a source of income. Lord knows, you're both doing the right thing and not having to resort to the court system to do it! Considering how clogged family courts are, you're saving us taxpayers OODLES of money by both being adults!! You should be *REWARDED* for it, not penalized all for the sake of a not having a court documented paper trail!!
We were looking for hopefully 130k to 150k. It doesn't seem like a huge difference from 110k but most of the homes at 100k around here are sold "as is" with foundation damage, freeze damage, etc. We wouldn't be able to afford to make them habitable.
Unfortunately i never gave it much thought, so i haven't even consistently deposited the cash. Sometimes we spend some of it right away so the deposits are flakey. I won't do that anymore! An affidavit would work, that's how i've always proven that income in the past (and of course there are deposits, just not consistent) but it doesn't seem an acceptable method with lenders. I think maybe because of the market right now they've tightened up the reins.
Our mortgage guy still wants us to come in an talk to him, see if we can put some sort of 6 month plan in place but honestly i already feel like we've wasted so much of his time. Thank you all for being so supportive!
@Anonymous wrote:We were looking for hopefully 130k to 150k. It doesn't seem like a huge difference from 110k but most of the homes at 100k around here are sold "as is" with foundation damage, freeze damage, etc. We wouldn't be able to afford to make them habitable.
PLEASE don't think that I'm insulting your intelligence ('cause I'm REALLY not trying to!), but did you try negotiating with the ones around $130K? I ask because we were able to negotiate $250K to $230K (with 4% towards closing) -- if we hadn't have included seller paid closing costs, we would have been able to negotiate to $226K.
I'm just saying that in this economy, sellers might be WAY more motivated than you think.
Unfortunately i never gave it much thought, so i haven't even consistently deposited the cash. Sometimes we spend some of it right away so the deposits are flakey. I won't do that anymore! An affidavit would work, that's how i've always proven that income in the past (and of course there are deposits, just not consistent) but it doesn't seem an acceptable method with lenders. I think maybe because of the market right now they've tightened up the reins.
Please don't count anything out until one of our Mortgage Gurus weighs in on the possiblity of an affidavit working in this case. Please!!!
Our mortgage guy still wants us to come in an talk to him, see if we can put some sort of 6 month plan in place but honestly i already feel like we've wasted so much of his time. Thank you all for being so supportive!
You're NOT wasting his time. From what I understand, if that was the case, he'd not ask you to come in and discuss things. Honestly.
I really think there has to be a way around this (not in terms of sneaking past or anything -- more like extenuating circumstances, yannow?). Please keep reading this thread -- and PLEASE don't give up -- someone will have something constructive that you can do. I'm sure of it!!
Darlin', I don't know if this means a pile of poopy to you, but I'll be crossing my fingers, toes, eyes and hair and praying for you!!!