Married or not married?

Question

Hello BP i have a question. on finance...

i am single by the law but a spouse at home.

My spouse and i both have excellent credit and have no personal debt. We will be looking forward to closing on a multifamily property that we will live in while it brings in cash flow to pay down the loan for the property and in time, pull out the equity and invest it again.

My question is, I've heard things that people are allowed a certain amount of loans in a lifetime, whether it be a conventional, Freddie mac or Fanine mae, types of loans. so,

How does not being married or being married affects ones eligibility to qualify for theses or any types of loans?

P.S. i am in the process of educating my self on REI. Please don't hesitate to correct me where or if i am wrong. I am open to all replies.

Thank you BP.

Lee Smith · Answer

Yes, Son-Hsiung Riu is correct.. Most lenders will stop you, or your partner, at 4 properties each.. At that point you will need to dig a bit to find lenders that will go up to 10 each... By the time you get to the 10ish loans, you will probably have enough history and experience to contact portfolio lenders and wrap up a bunch of those loans into one large loan... It may be a good thing you are not legally married, but don't use that excuse with said significant other.. hahaDepending on where these properties are located(city/state) some small banks will start doing portfolio loans at lower values(250k cumulative or higher loans).. Some banks will let you add onesy twosy properties to these portfolio loans as well after the creation.. I know a couple of lenders in Kansas City that are doing this, and I have lost some of my ongoing investors(money-wise) to these cities/banks.... e.g.-the banks working very nicely with investors but only work in their own market(KC), and not other markets like mine(Indianapolis).

Brian Pham · Answer

@Virgilio Garcia -- did you ever find out if as a married couple, if you each can both have 1x FHA loan even though you live together?

Son-Hsiung Riu · Answer

There is a soft cap and hard cap of # of financed properties. The soft cap is 4 and the hard cap is 10. Once you go above 4 financed properties, the lender will scrutinize your finances a little tighter and may also apply a loan to value restriction. I'm not sure i fully understand your marital status but theoretically, both you and your spouse could finance and hold 10 properties individually.

Virgilio Garcia · Answer

Account Closed

thank you for your input.

my intentions on this was just to see how married and single people are affected when it comes to loans and limits to loans. i am sure there is a lot more to it that goes way beyond the scope of this forum.

Account Closed · Answer

@Virgilio Garcia

On behalf of all romantics everywhere...  this really should not be a consideration.

If you are not the romantic type and you are going to consider this you should also consider the safe guards that you will not have if the properties are titled in only one of your names.  Many banks will require that is how they are titled if that is how they are financed.

Virgilio Garcia · Answer

hi @Brian Pham, and BP, I apologize for such a late response.

We have not tied the knot yet but we did get engaged.  I purchase a co-op which lead to a mortgage loan. The mortgage is in my name and my Fiancé does live with me. The issue with spouses or couples, married or not in obtaining an fha loan is that it may be challenging in the part where you must comply with the specific regulation that you must live in the property acquired with that fha loan. So for example, if my fiancé obtained a fha loan on a property, she would have to live in that property to abide by the fha loan. keep in mind, fha requires 3.5 down payment and must live in the property for minimum 1 year(if it has not changed). Also keep in mind that there are also a few more regulations to live with(no pun intended) in order to qualify for the fha loan.  So weather married or not, unless the couple decides to live separately, 2 fha loans may not work if they plan to live together. Now, if that is the case where they lived separately, I am not sure if when married, 2 separate FHA loans can be obtained. Then-again, I mean, is it the law that you must live with your married partner ? I'm sure there are people who are married and live in separate locations or properties. There are also married couple with separate mortgages also, but chances are, those mortgages does not require them to live in the property. I hope this helped.

Thank you for your input.

Thomas S. · Answer

Do you know what the common law laws are in your state. You may be or may in the future be considered common law which is no different than married, again depending on your state laws.

This has considerable legal ramifications when it comes to real estate holdings. It makes little difference till you break up though at which point one of you will claim common law and everything changes.

Nick Stoddard · Answer

you can message me @Steve Ipock and I can give you some.

Virgilio Garcia · Answer

Son-Hsiung Riu

Thank you for your input.

I have heard of those numbers but wasn't aware yet of soft cap and hard cap.

i am not married and we both have different last names. so that means 4 to 10 loans EACH.

If married, same last name, would that still be 4 to 10 EACH ? or 4 to 10 between the married borrowers ?

Married or not married?

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