Help me sort this out!

[Aaron Barrett]

I have an investor who wants to come in on my first duplex deal with me. We want to use their funds for the down payment and then I would pay them out plus interest after I refinance in a year. How can I structure the deal so they are not on the title or is that not possible? In addition if it isn't possible how difficult is it to remove them later? The investor is a family member and does not want to be on the title, they just want to  make their interest and repeat

[Emily Lopez]

First thing that comes to mind is that they are going to have to be a partner initially and on the mortgage and title.  When you refinance, you can refinance into only your name (so long as you qualify solo) and then just do a quitclaim deed at the courthouse to remove their name from the title.  Quitclaiming is not difficult and most courthouses will have a form for you to do this yourself (so you don't have to pay an attorney) and pay a small fee (like $40) for recording. 

You may be able to just borrow the money as long as you have everything in writing stating what you pay them monthly and that including that, you still meet debt to income ratio requirements and can qualify for the loan.  You would just need to disclose and provide the agreement to your lender.  It would be no different than a personal loan from a family member to pay for say a car.  You just have to still meet the income and debt to income ratio requirements.  We had a client in our office who was a Pastor and borrowed the down payment from the church, as long as it is disclosed it should be fine.  I think this would work, just ask your lender.