First Time Home Buyer - Higher down payment or adding another person to the loan

[Omid Khezri]

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I are buying our first home, which is a single family in Connecticut. We are moving to CT for 2 years for her education and then will be back to Florida. We are going to make some improvements to the property over the next 2 years and then either sell or rent it. Our loan application is based on her monthly income which is not a lot. We did not want to put me on the application, so I can keep my borrowing ability for future deals. 

However, since her income is low as a student, we have to put about 15% down to be able to buy the property.

Would it make more sense if I add myself to the loan and put 3% down instead of 15% and save our cash in the current market, or should we just put the higher down payment ?

We appreciate your guidance.