Can we add my income without me being on the loan?

[chasky324]

Thank you to all who responded. His yearly income (before taxes) is approx. $102,000. My income is $38,000. Monthly bills avg. approx. $650 (1 car payment & 2 credit cards). In addition, we have a rental property - we charge $1850 for the rent, but our payments are $2100.

We got a job transfer and are looking to purchase a $275,000 house. If house # 1 wasn't in the picture, we know there would be no problem of qualifying for the loan in his name only. However, seeing that we have to consider house # 1, what would be our chances of getting a 2nd home just on his income? I recall when you complete a loan application it asks for "other income." No one would consider the extra $18,000 my income adds - even if it is well documented? Will we have to resort to finding a place to rent ourselves until I can rebuild my credit? Please advise.

[chasky324]

Oh, I forgot to add that we will be able to use our VA loan. Does that matter?

[Bette]

It sounds like you would qualify just on his. If you are relocating, they will let you rent out the other property.

[VictorBurek]

i dont see why your husband wont qualify based on just his income. With good credit you can get approved with easily up to a 50% debt ratio. His monthly income is about 9000 so half that would be 4500.

On the house you wish to buy figure a total payment of 2500, plus the other payment of 650 so that totals 3150. How long have you had the rental property? As long as you can use the rent payment as income he should qualify.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Yup, you should be fine to purchase with just your husbands income with a VA loan. His income is $8,500/mo, the new PITI payment on $275k would be about $2k/mo, you have $650 in other payments + a $712/mo loss (only using 75% of rental income for vacancy/maint. factors), comes out to about a 23% housing ratio and a 38% total debt ratio - and that would easily qualify for VA.

[SmartMoney]

Actually, VA changed the way it views rental income on other properties in July of 2007. You can actually use a dollar for dollar credit for the rent towards the PITI, you just can not under any circumstances use positive income from a lease. If you have a track record and probability of continued rent (ie, 2 years tax returns), then you can use any positive income. Also, for each rental property, you will need 3 months reserves.

It sure sounds like he can do this on his own, but do youself a favor and tackle your credit issues. Many times the creditors will settle for lesser amounts.