topic Loan in my name or Husband’s in Auto Loans

Loan in my name or Husband’s

JustKeepSwmng — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 16:17:54 GMT

Hi all,

Not sure if I am overthinking this. Purchasing a car for me, primarily. I have a thin file, AAoA 5 years, only installment loans are student loans that are all in deferral. (My husband has a huge file, multiple paid off auto loans, paid off mortgage and AAoA +20 years). We did a couple applications with me only, him only, and joint and I am debating where to accept from.

-I got approved for an auto loan from BOA (I bank with them, 10 years now, 2.44% (60 months)
- He got approved from PenFed for 2.19% (60 months) and DCU at 1.99% (65 months). We have no other accounts with either of these banks.

Should we just take the lowest rate in his name only? Or is it worth the extra $ for me to have a loan on my own?

I/we will likely apply for a mortgage in about 2-3 years and not sure if this matters for building a relationship with any of these banks.

Re: Loan in my name or Husband’s

mgs2010 — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 16:33:56 GMT

@JustKeepSwmng wrote:
Hi all,

Not sure if I am overthinking this. Purchasing a car for me, primarily. I have a thin file, AAoA 5 years, only installment loans are student loans that are all in deferral. (My husband has a huge file, multiple paid off auto loans, paid off mortgage and AAoA +20 years). We did a couple applications with me only, him only, and joint and I am debating where to accept from.

-I got approved for an auto loan from BOA (I bank with them, 10 years now, 2.44% (60 months)
- He got approved from PenFed for 2.19% (60 months) and DCU at 1.99% (65 months). We have no other accounts with either of these banks.

Should we just take the lowest rate in his name only? Or is it worth the extra $ for me to have a loan on my own?

I/we will likely apply for a mortgage in about 2-3 years and not sure if this matters for building a relationship with any of these banks.

Your credit seems to be better than you think if BOA approved you at 2.44%; that's quite good in my opinion for a 60 month term right now. Since all you have is student loan history, if it were me I would place the auto loan in my own name rather than my spouse's name. The difference in rate is minimal between your best offer & your husband's best offer - and it allows you to build positive auto loan history helps out no matter how your slice it. On a $20,000 loan the difference in payment would be under $30 so I guess you just need to decide if paying an additional $30 a month is worth it for you to build up your credit.

a relationship with a bank is not necessary for getting a mortgage - it can give you comfort knowing that it's a lender you've already established a relationship and trust with but outside of that, there's not much. Generally speaking, all mortgage lenders are in the same ball park for rates/costs obviously with a few outliers here or there but it's always best to shop around with a few to get quotes when the time comes.

Good luck with whichever option you go with..

Re: Loan in my name or Husband’s

JustKeepSwmng — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 17:01:21 GMT

@mgs2010 wrote:
@JustKeepSwmng wrote:
Hi all,

Not sure if I am overthinking this. Purchasing a car for me, primarily. I have a thin file, AAoA 5 years, only installment loans are student loans that are all in deferral. (My husband has a huge file, multiple paid off auto loans, paid off mortgage and AAoA +20 years). We did a couple applications with me only, him only, and joint and I am debating where to accept from.

-I got approved for an auto loan from BOA (I bank with them, 10 years now, 2.44% (60 months)
- He got approved from PenFed for 2.19% (60 months) and DCU at 1.99% (65 months). We have no other accounts with either of these banks.

Should we just take the lowest rate in his name only? Or is it worth the extra $ for me to have a loan on my own?

I/we will likely apply for a mortgage in about 2-3 years and not sure if this matters for building a relationship with any of these banks.
Your credit seems to be better than you think if BOA approved you at 2.44%; that's quite good in my opinion for a 60 month term right now. Since all you have is student loan history, if it were me I would place the auto loan in my own name rather than my spouse's name. The difference in rate is minimal between your best offer & your husband's best offer - and it allows you to build positive auto loan history helps out no matter how your slice it. On a $20,000 loan the difference in payment would be under $30 so I guess you just need to decide if paying an additional $30 a month is worth it for you to build up your credit.

a relationship with a bank is not necessary for getting a mortgage - it can give you comfort knowing that it's a lender you've already established a relationship and trust with but outside of that, there's not much. Generally speaking, all mortgage lenders are in the same ball park for rates/costs obviously with a few outliers here or there but it's always best to shop around with a few to get quotes when the time comes.

Good luck with whichever option you go with..

Thank you for the response. Yes it's about $56 dollars difference for monthly compared to the DCU loan ($300 life of loan). The difference is of no consequence to us. I've just been stuck on whether it matters at all for me to build history on my own.

Re: Loan in my name or Husband’s

SouthernCredit — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 18:16:00 GMT

I'd take a less than half point difference for the shorter loan in my name only to build that history on a thin file. That's a great rate from BofA.

Re: Loan in my name or Husband’s

JustKeepSwmng — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 19:20:57 GMT

Thank you. I think that's what I'm going to do.

@SouthernCredit wrote:
I'd take a less than half point difference for the shorter loan in my name only to build that history on a thin file. That's a great rate from BofA.

Re: Loan in my name or Husband’s

increasingmyfico — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 19:42:39 GMT

@JustKeepSwmng wrote:
Hi all,

Not sure if I am overthinking this. Purchasing a car for me, primarily. I have a thin file, AAoA 5 years, only installment loans are student loans that are all in deferral. (My husband has a huge file, multiple paid off auto loans, paid off mortgage and AAoA +20 years). We did a couple applications with me only, him only, and joint and I am debating where to accept from.

-I got approved for an auto loan from BOA (I bank with them, 10 years now, 2.44% (60 months)
- He got approved from PenFed for 2.19% (60 months) and DCU at 1.99% (65 months). We have no other accounts with either of these banks.

Should we just take the lowest rate in his name only? Or is it worth the extra $ for me to have a loan on my own?

I/we will likely apply for a mortgage in about 2-3 years and not sure if this matters for building a relationship with any of these banks.

Do it in just yours or in both so you benefit from it.

Re: Loan in my name or Husband’s

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 19:51:11 GMT

Your auto scores take into account current and previous auto loans, so it would beneficial to be on the loan for the future.