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Old 11-29-2012, 11:38 PM
 
17 posts, read 23,172 times
Reputation: 10

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I have a question concerning refinancing a home mortgage loan and have been trying to figure out the best way of doing this. The background is before I met my wife of 2 years now, she had purchased a small home here in Mcallen Tx it was her first and she was naive (income and Credit not the greatest at the time) so to speak and they really stuck it to her with a 10.9 percent interest rate and it continues to be that up to this date. The house continues to be only under her name and we now rent the house out, so we became unconcerned since with the rent all expenses are being taken care ( yes call us stupid for waiting so long) until recently I started thinking of lowering this insane interest rate and intern lower the payment and put more money in our pockets or towards the mortgage itself.

However the problem is, my wife has been unemployed now for close to 2 years and her credit is so so and the mortgage continues to be in her name only. So I know its not possible for her to refinance, so it would be up to me. My income is good and credit score is excellent. It doesn't matter if the mortgage is in both our names or not so that is not a problem. I know she could add me to the mortgage, but have read I need to stay on there for a period of 6 months before we can try to refinance and im sure there is a fee of some sort for adding me onto it and the other question is if we did do that with me trying to refinance with her being on there wouldn't it hurt me from getting the best possible interest rate with her credit not being the best?

or could I just get a mortgage loan on my own for the remainder payoff amount and basically buy it from her without having to go thru real estate agents etc and start clean, which I am thinking is the best idea.

If anybody can give me there advice it would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance , I am 28 years old, so im pretty new with mortgages and refinancing, however know that something has got to be done with our current interest rate.

thanks
corey
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Old 11-30-2012, 11:12 PM
 
9 posts, read 26,974 times
Reputation: 10
Homeowners enjoy the benefits of investing in their property year after year. For some, there comes a time when that investment can come in handy. Refinancing with an FHA loan can prove to be an effective way to put that equity to work. Keep in mind that FHA refinancing is only available to homeowners who are currently using their home as their principal residence.
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Old 12-04-2012, 11:18 PM
 
Location: Farmington Hills, MI
19 posts, read 40,894 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by disnetrz View Post
I have a question concerning refinancing a home mortgage loan and have been trying to figure out the best way of doing this. The background is before I met my wife of 2 years now, she had purchased a small home here in Mcallen Tx it was her first and she was naive (income and Credit not the greatest at the time) so to speak and they really stuck it to her with a 10.9 percent interest rate and it continues to be that up to this date. The house continues to be only under her name and we now rent the house out, so we became unconcerned since with the rent all expenses are being taken care ( yes call us stupid for waiting so long) until recently I started thinking of lowering this insane interest rate and intern lower the payment and put more money in our pockets or towards the mortgage itself.

However the problem is, my wife has been unemployed now for close to 2 years and her credit is so so and the mortgage continues to be in her name only. So I know its not possible for her to refinance, so it would be up to me. My income is good and credit score is excellent. It doesn't matter if the mortgage is in both our names or not so that is not a problem. I know she could add me to the mortgage, but have read I need to stay on there for a period of 6 months before we can try to refinance and im sure there is a fee of some sort for adding me onto it and the other question is if we did do that with me trying to refinance with her being on there wouldn't it hurt me from getting the best possible interest rate with her credit not being the best?

or could I just get a mortgage loan on my own for the remainder payoff amount and basically buy it from her without having to go thru real estate agents etc and start clean, which I am thinking is the best idea.

If anybody can give me there advice it would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance , I am 28 years old, so im pretty new with mortgages and refinancing, however know that something has got to be done with our current interest rate.

thanks
corey
Adding yourself to the mortgage and waiting 6 months won't help you at all. Banks rely on the lowest middle credit score of the two borrowers when determining the rate you qualify for, which will inevitably be your wife's middle score, thus making your addition totally futile. However, you are smart to wonder whether or not you can simply purchase the home from her as a means to achieve the lower interest, because this is the exact course of action I often recommend to borrowers in circumstances similar to yours (I work as a loan officer). In doing so, she will actually retain at least half ownership of the home, since the law will require her to be on the title and deed as a condition of your marriage, even if she will no longer be listed on the mortgage as a party legally responsible for repayment on the home.

Let me know if you need further help with this. Cheers.
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Old 12-05-2012, 11:18 AM
 
5,340 posts, read 14,095,302 times
Reputation: 4699
I would disagree with Chris, unless it is a TX specific rule. Imo-you could add yourself in title via quit claim deed and then in 6 months you could do a refinance loan in just your name using just your income and just your credit score. I don't think you can buy it from her, as i believe an investment property purchase must be an arms length transaction.
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Old 12-05-2012, 11:48 AM
 
11,113 posts, read 19,458,290 times
Reputation: 10174
The wife's property (House #1) is a pre-marital asset, the husband is not on the current mortgage or on the deed as far as we know. [Caveat: I am not knowledgeable on TX r/e law. But the house would be termed pre-marital asset in most states.]

The OP does not say if he and the wife own or rent where they live now. (House #2)

If husband buys wife's House #1 and takes a mortgage on it, and owns House #2, then #2 is the primary residence and House #1 is treated as income property for bank and IRS. Either way, both homes can be in the husband's name alone. (Wife has rights to house #1 after husband buys it anyhow, since it becomes a marital asset.)

If House #2 that they live in is a rental, then house #1 should be no problem for financing except for husband qualifying for the mortgage in his name only based on income and debts. Wife can be on the deed, and not on the mortgage. An accountant should be consulted for tax purposes on any scenario.

Will be interested to learn what Chr-s says.
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Old 12-05-2012, 10:07 PM
 
Location: Farmington Hills, MI
19 posts, read 40,894 times
Reputation: 15
Generally, a second home purchase doesn't necessarily equate to transferring the status of the buyer's primary residence to the new purchase, but you are right if you claim that this often becomes the case. Moreover, after making a second purchase, it is not always the case that the borrower will dub one of the two properties with the status of investment property (you called it "income property"--both are the same). One of the two properties might simply be classified as a second home.

You also reiterated an important point I tried to make in my first post, which allows the wife to remain on the title/deed even after the transaction is complete. You are also correct to mention that a transaction in this scenario is possible, since the mortgage, title and deed include only the wife's name, which is the inherent consequence of holding a pre-marital asset. However, the circumstances get extremely fuzzy when you stumble upon states like Arizona, which have community property laws--although I'm fairly certain Texas is not within this category of states.
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