Debt... what should I do?

[Michael Guzik]

Hey guys a little background I'm 20 have credit score of 720-730 with credit for a little over a year. I recently was basically forced to take over my dads car payments for a car. I'm not going to act like he had a gun to my head or that it's an ugly car but it definitely was not my wish or want. My question is I am looking to get into a house through house hacking and I am wondering if it would be better for me to just give my dad the money for the car every month OR get the loan put into my name? I know that the second option will in theory build my credit and also increase my Debt to income ratio. I am young and don't have well established credit so I am not trying to hinder myself anymore since I already have a lot going against me. What option do ya'll suggest I take? I'm wondering if either or both will impact my ability to get a loan or which will be the worst for helping me get an FHA loan? I'm really trying to get started and avoid anything that will set me back, and do things that will push me forward. Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment your opinion I'm open to suggestions and different viewpoints.

[JD Martin]

I thought I remembered this thread from a little bit back so I took a quick look:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/514...

In that post, you said that you had an old junker car and that you *wanted* to take over your dad's car. In this post you say that it wasn't your want to take over the payment. Which is it? 

As for what you should do, I doubt the answers will change since you asked this question last time (car or house first). If you really want to invest in real estate, you should have left the car to your dad, got an old junker like suggested, and saved the money towards RE. Now that you've taken over a car payment, you probably don't have enough money to buy anything (since you said you make $25k/year). If you do have any spare money, and you still plan on trying to buy something, you should leave the loan in your father's name; as soon as it is in your name you won't qualify for buying a house based on your last post. By the way, if you have taken responsibility for a car payment, even if it's not in your name, it might be fraud to leave it off your mortgage loan application. You have to list all obligations.

I believe your ship has sailed for buying RE right now. If you don't have any living expenses, i.e. you're living/eating at home, and you only owe $9k on the car, you should get the car paid off pronto and then start bankrolling everything you've got to gather up enough down payment to buy something to house hack.