Options for home purchase

[Crystal Lee]

I am currently renting a single family home in Texas that will be up for sale in approx 4 months. I do not qualify for a loan alone for the house based on my income but have a sister willing to partner with me to purchase the house as an investment or consigner. I'm not sure what the best way to go about this is and am looking for suggestions. My sister currently has a paid off rental property and an existing home loan on her home that she lives in. We need guidance as to how to go about this. Should I apply for a loan and have her as a consigner ? How are taxes handled if we are both on the loan? Should we both apply for loans together to have the home as an investment property? If it is considered an investment property can I live in it? Should we take a loan on her current paid off rental property and use it as a down payment on this home ? Would that be considered a taxable gift? We are giving ourselves a crash course due to time limitations and are possibly confusing ourselves rather than learning what we need. I'm not sure what type of lender to go to for this situation, a credit union, a mortgage broker or a bank.