How did you get to your real estate goals with your significant other?

Question

Hello,

I am getting married next year. I have my own real estate investment business and she has her own jewelry store business. A good and bad fact, she makes more money than me =)

Up to now, I've always used my own money and investors money to buy real estate to flip and hold. How do you guys combine your money and theirs in order to buy real estate together (specifically, to hold)? Something you should know is that even though she's makes money in her business, she pours a lot of it back into it. There seems to be a very simple and logical way of doing this, but since this is my first time getting married (and hopefully last), I wanted to get some advice from the more experienced people about this topic.

Thanks for your help in advance  :D

Account Closed · Answer

great info mariah...as i mentioned, i think mitch just went through this as well.i think i remember him saying it was a pain in the butt though..sure glad i don't have to worry about this yet  :)

Account Closed · Answer

tony, currently, you and your fiancee are separate entities..if you can each qualify on your own for loans, you could each hit your cap of conforming loans before getting married...once you are married, you are an entity together and won't each be able to get the 4 loans..it's a way that you can double the amount of 30 year fixed low interest loans before geting married..once married, you can then transfer to an LLC that you joinlty own...maybe im' not making muchsense today..chalk it up to a long weekend and a monday...sorry  anyways, i believe mitch found a way for his wife to qualify for loans so im' sure there are other strategies as well

Account Closed · Answer

tony, this is a great question..i've always wondered the same thing, but luckily, don't have to worry about it for a while  :)...one thing i've thought about is buy as many properties separately before you're married (as long as you're definitely gonna get hitched) with conventional loans...then you can always deed them into an LLC that you both own or something...this would be a great way to pick up rentals at lower rates...once you're married, you miss out on getting your 4 or 10 (whatever the loan cap is currently) loans each..

Tony Nguyen · Answer

Rich - wonderful reply. I could sit here all day and say that we'll never get divorced, but you're right, numbers dont lie (unless they're coming from a landlord you're buying a property from) and with the high divorce rates, you can't help but wonder. Will keep it in mind Rich, thanks.

Rich Weese · Answer

This is a thread that made me smile. Marriage. What a challenge and fun. I can't help much on the current questions , but have a concern. My wifey and I have been married 41 years, and worked together on R.E and bookkeeping 24/7 for at least 39 of those! I never had to be concerned about DIVORCE, but suggest you really have your future and Estate planned early on, due to the high divorce rates. Lots of horror stories from friends,,,,,,,,AFTER the fact. Rich

Tony Nguyen · Answer

Bryan - that makes a ton of sense now thanks for the info.

Max - thank you!

Mariah - thanks for your input. So did you and your significant other buy up to 4 seperately before getting married like Bryan mentioned? If not, what was your path?

James - sounds like you guys are doing great then! Thanks for the input!

James Vermillion · Answer

Being married helped me tremendously when it came to my real estate business, as my wife brought a lot more money than the table than I did :).  Luckily, we share the same dreams and goals in life and as a family, so she was willing and able to contribute to real estate investing.

Mariah Jeffery · Answer

Nothing painful about it when I went through it. In fact it was less painful because you only have to send paystubs and bank statements for one person, assuming you have individual accounts. If the accounts are joint you'll have some extra steps.

Mariah Jeffery · Answer

Not true. I've been married since before I bought my first property and all of our FNMA backed loans are in either his name or mine. We both have more than 4. The key to this is to make enough income individually and have a good enough credit score that you both qualify.

Max Drizin · Answer

Congratulations!  I hope I never have to go through that, but seriously, it's great that everything is going to work out.

In your case, it's definitely possible to have her qualify for loans and everything else, and if she is willing to get into the business with you, that's great.

However, there are times when it's better to keep separate.  I know that there are people that would be hesitant to get into real estate, especially today.

If she puts all of her money back into her business, and it works for her, then it works for you.  I mean, if jewelry pays better than real estate, then that's that :P

At the same time, if she likes the idea of doing it, and you are okay with all of it, then go full-steam ahead on the loans like Bryan says.