Buying our first home

[Anonymous]

Classic example of what's hers is hers and what's yours is hers.  You've got much bigger issues in your marriage than buying this house.

[paul]

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@bada_bing wrote:

Good for you for making progress.

I thought a little more about your original post. One solution that seems rather

advantageous to consider would for your wife to use her inheritance to purchase

a house with no mortgage (for cash). I know you said she didn't want to do that but

it has some compelling advantages to consider:

1. She could retain ownership as inherited property and protect her interests if the

the property was bought entirely with her money.

2. It would free up the money budgeted for house payments to be used for savings. If

desired, it could allow more fully funding retirement accounts and college savings funds.

In a way, it would allow the transfer of her inheritance money into tax advantaged savings

over time, which could be a real advantage.

3.There is nothing like owning your home outright to give a greater sense of security. Having

no mortgage allows all kinds of things to be recalculated like minimum budget and size of

emergency fund.

One way to look at it is as if your wife invested her inheritance into a rental property with the

perfect renters locked in - her family. She would get the homeowner's tax free capital gains treatment on

this "rental" when it finally gets sold. It makes for a compelling investment for her inheritance as

well as a major step up for her family.

If it were me with an inheritance and faced with choice between spending some of it on joint ownership

of a mortgaged property and more of it to be the sole owner of a mortgage free property, I know what I would

choose.

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Brilliant idea, I will suggest this to her. Thank you!

[tacpoly]

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@bada_bing wrote:

Good for you for making progress.

I thought a little more about your original post. One solution that seems rather

advantageous to consider would for your wife to use her inheritance to purchase

a house with no mortgage (for cash). I know you said she didn't want to do that but

it has some compelling advantages to consider:

1. She could retain ownership as inherited property and protect her interests if the

the property was bought entirely with her money.

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No.  Once she uses her inheritance to purchase property for the benefit of her and her spouse, the property becomes community property -- even if it the title is in her name alone (in community property states).  Your idea is still a good one, but if her goal is protect her inherited assets, she should ask her husband to sign a Waiver of Property Rights on the house.