My Fiancé and I both qualify for a First-Time Home Buyer Loan...

[Mike Umscheid]

Like the title says, both me and my fiancé have never owned a home, so we both qualify as "first-time home buyers."

Let me lay out the situation we are in and then ask the question that I have been pondering:

1. - We are currently in the process of a new-build townhome, to be completed end of June
2. - We only needed a pre-approval letter + earnest money in order to "secure our spot" for the home. We won't close until late June once the home is complete, which is also when we will be securing the actual mortgage loan for said home.

Because we both qualify as a first-time home buyer, would it be smart to only have one of us on the contract/mortgage in order to leverage the other's "first-time home buyer" status for a future property? What would be the downside for this? 

My understanding is you can obviously do this, but it depends if we could qualify for the mortgage on just one of our incomes instead of both. 

If that is the case and the lone income just isn't enough to qualify for the loan --- and I'm really thinking outside the box here, so if this is not even legal, just tell me lol --- are you able to have your significant other sign a "lease" to pay "rent" and present that to the mortgage lender/bank in order to make up that income gap and ultimately qualify for the necessary loan amount?

Let me know if any of the above doesn't make sense or you need clarification. Just some thoughts going on in my head that I thought I'd attempt to put into words for you all to answer/help out.

Thank you!!