Buying A House With My Mom

While joint ownership of a home is a great idea in theory, it only works if all parties are on board and willing to keep up with the financial commitments. If not, it will cause headaches and disagreements down the road, which may need to be remedied with attorneys or through the courts.

buying a house with my mom

In short, pursuing a joint mortgage to buy a house with your parents, friends, or other family members can be a great idea if all parties involved are equally responsible and financially prepared. Be sure the people you buy with are people you trust.

However, the Fannie Mae Desktop Underwriter, an automated underwriting system, only allows up to four borrowers for conventional. With that, you might have to limit the number of borrowers or seek out a lender willing to work with you.

Yes. In fact, individuals buying a house jointly with their parents is one of the most common co-owned mortgage pairings out there. Keep in mind that doing so may require adjustments in communication regarding financial obligations, and even lifestyle if you choose to co-inhabit the house.

Absolutely. You can co-finance a house through a lender with one or both parents. Under current lending regulations, you can even jointly buy a house with the support of someone who is neither a family member nor a spouse.

Yes. Many lenders allow two families to combine their respective incomes in order to jointly purchase a house. Both households will need to meet the minimum qualifying loan requirements, which may vary from lender to lender. Lenders may also require both families to hold equal ownership rights of the house. Matters such as property use, expenses, and title are best negotiated in advance through the mediation of attorneys.

Many first-time home buyers borrow funds from their parents. It is what is commonly known as a private home loan, a private mortgage, or an intra-family mortgage. Choosing to borrow from your parents can confer certain advantages, such as zero prequalifications, low-interest rates, the flexibility of payment, and even tax deductions. Nonetheless, before asking for a loan, it is wise to come prepared, at the very least, with exact amounts, tentative payment schedules, and the specifics of your chosen property.

A house can be registered in more than one name. Although some lenders will impose a limit on the number of names, many will allow three borrowers to co-borrow. And with that, the property deed will have three names on it.

With that, each family member will be listed on the mortgage application. You can choose to apply for a co-ownership mortgage with your siblings, adult children, or parents. As housing becomes more expensive, more families choose to pursue a co-ownership arrangement with each other.

A mortgage recast can be advantageous for many homeowners. It will allow you to reduce your debt obligation without changing the interest rate or term of the loan. At a time when mortgage rates are rising, that could be a better option to many homeowners than a refinance if your main goal is to reduce the amount of debt you have outstanding.

Again, you might want to consider having your mother listed on the mortgage. Unless she has credit problems, her additional Social Security income and assets could help get you a better rate on the mortgage. It would also alleviate issues that would arise from having her pay down the loan when her house sells.

While you may easily decide to purchase a home together with family members, choosing that home may not be as simple as you expect. Generational differences and conflicting expectations can lead to plenty of disagreements throughout the process, and someone (or someones) may end up not getting what they want.

Buying a house with your parent or adult child can be a great way to ease caregiving, support young children, or simply bring loved ones closer together. And it can make homeownership a lot more affordable.

Buying with cash might be easier if the parent(s), child, or both parties currently own their own home(s). The proceeds from selling an existing property can be used to help purchase the new home with cash.

Bruce Ailion, a real estate attorney and Realtor, says many multigenerational homes nowadays have features uniquely suited to accommodating occupants with different needs. He says these features may include:

Increasingly, several generations of American families are living together. According to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data, 64 million Americans, or 20 percent of the population, live in households containing two adult generations. These multi-generational living arrangements present legal and financial challenges around home ownership.

Multi-generational households may include "boomerang" children who return home after college or other forays out into the world, middle-aged children who have lost jobs, or seniors who no longer can or want to live alone. In many, if not most, cases when mom moves in with daughter and son-in-law or daughter and son-in-law move in with mom, everything works out well for all concerned. But it's important that everyone, including siblings living elsewhere, find answers to questions like these:

All of these options have different tax results in terms of capital gains when the home is sold, as well as different treatment by Medicaid if mom needs help paying for care. It's best to consult with your attorney to determine what makes the most sense in your particular situation. Find an attorney near you.

If you forego a real estate agent, it may be worth it to at least have a real estate attorney review the purchase agreements before everyone signs. You may also need to consult with a tax professional if your parents are gifting you equity or money for a down payment.

Fannie Mae is one of two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that purchase mortgages for residential homes, allowing lenders to offer mortgage programs with down payments as low as 3%. Conforming conventional loans require a minimum credit score of 620 and a lower DTI than FHA loans in most cases.

Your mother provided for you while you were growing up. Now you want to do something nice for her; you'd like to buy her a home. Doing this with cash is easy. But if you -- like most homebuyers -- need to take out a mortgage to finance the purchase of a home, buying a residence for your mother can be trickier. The good news, though, is that it can be done, as long as your income and credit scores are solid.

You can also use mortgage financing to purchase an investment home that you can then rent out to your mother at a nominal rate. There are some benefits to this: First, the investment home can be located anywhere. The 50-mile rule that goes with a second home is not in effect. You also don't have to live in an investment home at all. Finally, lenders often look more favorably on buyers purchasing an investment home because of the potential for this property to generate another monthly income stream, the rent that owners can collect.

You'll also need to prove that you can afford a new mortgage loan. This can be challenging with a second home or investment property. You'll need a high enough gross monthly income -- your income before taxes are taken out -- to afford both the mortgage payments on your primary residence and those on the property that will serve as your mother's home. Most lenders want your total monthly debts -- including all your mortgage payments -- to equal no more than 36 percent of your gross monthly income. This can be a harder goal to achieve with the addition of a second mortgage payment. With an investment property, though, lenders will factor in the rent that you might be able to earn when totaling your gross monthly income.

Buying a home for your mother could come with certain tax benefits. You can deduct mortgage interest on your taxes for up to two residences. This means that you can do so with your primary residence and the second home in which your mother will be living. You can also deduct property taxes on both residences. If you buy your mother's house as an investment property and she pays to rent it, you'll also be able to deduct such expenses as insurance, repairs, cleaning and maintenance.

Don Rafner has been writing professionally since 1992, with work published in "The Washington Post," "Chicago Tribune," "Phoenix Magazine" and several trade magazines. He is also the managing editor of "Midwest Real Estate News." He specializes in writing about mortgage lending, personal finance, business and real-estate topics. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Illinois.

Real estate agents have tools at their disposal to determine how a home should be priced. They pore over a comparative market analysis, or comps, to gauge what homes are selling for in the neighborhood and come up with estimates based on those.

Kevin Graham is a Senior Blog Writer for Rocket Companies. He specializes in economics, mortgage qualification and personal finance topics. As someone with cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia that requires the use of a wheelchair, he also takes on articles around modifying your home for physical challenges and smart home tech. Kevin has a BA in Journalism from Oakland University. Prior to joining Rocket Mortgage, he freelanced for various newspapers in the Metro Detroit area.

If neither sibling wants to sell the family home, renting it out could be a positive, profitable approach for everyone involved. In fact, it could even be possible for one or more siblings to live in the house alongside any renters.

These loans typically have a fast, less-strict approval process that makes them a convenient option for people who need to move quickly. But like with traditional mortgages, keep in mind that your property is held as collateral on the loan, which means defaulting may result in the lender taking ownership of the home.

You must also determine who in or outside of your family will have the right of first refusal, which is a clause in a lease or contract that allows the holder to transact with other contracting parties before anyone else can. 041b061a72