How your Civil Status Affects Your Mortgage

Lenders cannot readily deny your loan application just because you’re single, widowed, or divorced. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your relationship status won’t have an effect on your chances to qualify for a mortgage.

In this article, we are going to discuss how your civil status can help or harm your chances to get a mortgage.

Single

Being single is not a hindrance to qualify for a mortgage, as long as your income stream is adequate. However, since you don’t have a spouse, you do not have the option to tap a partner’s income to help you get a bigger loan but that doesn’t leave you out of options. You can have a co-signer, such as a relative, to help you qualify for the financial requirements set. In that case, your co-signer agrees to pay the mortgage on your behalf if you’re unable to make your monthly payments.

You’re in a committed relationship

You do not have to be married to purchase a home together. You should however, thoroughly assess your relationship before adding another joint responsibility together. It’s ideal to have a stable relationship before deciding to apply because if you part ways, it will be harder to split up the joint owned property.

Married

Being married does have its perks when you’re of applying for a mortgage. It promotes flexibility. If a married couple applies for a loan jointly, they can merge their incomes to qualify for larger loans. However, it also has its downside; lenders will first look at both of your credit scores. If you have a good credit score but your spouse has anything lower, the lender will take the lowest middle score between the two of you. This will indicate the final say whether you will qualify and at what the interest rate. Thus, you need to assess both of your finances first.

Divorced

When you apply for a home loan, lenders cannot actually hold being widowed or divorced against you. They will look at your income and debt to see if you can afford the monthly mortgage payments. The lender will closely look at the amount of money you spend every month on alimony, child support and other regular payments. These payments are factored into your debt-to-income ratio. Ideally, your total monthly debts including the new mortgage payment, must be equal to or less than 43% of your gross income per month.

Whatever your civil status is, you’ll want to evaluate your options to make the best decision for your current situation. If you need help, you can contact mortgage loan professionals, like David Zitting, who can guide you through the process of becoming a homeowner.