Finding home for after divorce HELP

As you probably know I'm going thru a divorce. No problem but I need to know what to expect when i go looking for a new place to live. Here are a couple of questions:

1. My wife and I are both on both our car loans. Can I have it written into the divorce decree that we are both responsible for our own vehicles, their payment and upkeep without the other person being responsible for it? My thought is this puts me awful close to the limit, gross income vs. obligated expenses, when looking for a home. Will this type of documentatioin have any effect on what a lender decides?

2. As part of the divorce decree, my wife will pay me $10,000 for her half of our credit card debt (quit judging me, I need your help now!). Should I also present this to my "lender" and let them dictate what I should do with the money? Or, should I let them know what I will do with it (pay off 1 credit card completely) and see what they say?

Just a couple fo questions so give me your input either from personal experiience or as a lender/banker. Thanks, Greg
 
Do you have a place to sell?
 
Nope. She is going to refinance our current home in her name only.

So you should get some money for that?

I just ask as I've got a mortgage before while having heavy credit card debts and all I needed to tell the lenders was that I was going to use money from the sale of a house to pay off the debt.

I didn't of course but it isn't a condition of the lending so they can't check to see if you lived up to your word.

A good mortgage advisor should be able to help you out with that
 
In regards to #2

I would never never never never never let the bank decide how to handle my funds. Whose interest will they serve? Theirs or yours. If you have that much CC debt, you can settle for less. I would put that money into an account. Call the CC people and tell them you are trying to avoid "bankruptcy" that will send up a red flag.

Then ask them about a payment restructuring.
 
I just checked my credit score and it's 714. That includes one of her credit cards where I am an authorized user. She is going to take me off that one tomorrow. Her car payment also shows up on there and it is going to be specified in the divorce decree that her vehicle payments and upkeep are her responsibility (and mine will be mine, of course).

I will plan on using most of the money from "her portion" of the cc debt, if not all of it towards my cc debt. The only other thing might be putting away a little of it so that I am sure to have enough for the down payment on a home of my own. I've been in debt far too long and until now haven't had the means to pay it off. By not having to support her 2 damn near grown sons as well as not paying her semi-large car payment as well as getting the excellent job I have now, I will be able to have all of it paid off within probably a years time and still be able to live comfortably.

I'm "eating" the equity I have in the house. She's going to have a hard enough time making ends meet without my income and it's important for me to allow the kids, especially mine, to remain in the house they grew up in.
 
I am a mortgage person and I am happy to help you if you need any additional info but given that I would need to ask you some personal specific type questions to assess YOUR situation, let me just give you some general current information.

If the divorce is not finalized but has been filed, she cannot refi until the case is completed.

If she has a debt load that added in with the new house payment is going to make her debt to income over 45% she cannot refinance with current Fannie Mae guidelines. If you have a acceptable amount of equity in the home, she could concievably pay off the cc debt with a cash out refi but make sure that the loan office knows this upfront so they can set up the application correctly. You guys could refi prior to filing the divorce and I suggest doing so you can avoid the headache that getting it done after might cause.
There are a million other things that.

If you have more questions, send me a message and I will help you out. Divorce sucks but you will come out stronger. Hang in there. :)
 
She has already been approved for the loan thru our current mortgage holder. The loan also includes a $10,000 cash out that will be paid to me directly for her portion of the credit card bills.

We were aware that nothing can go forward until everything is finalized. We are currently trading off weeks at our current home. She'll stay with the kids one week, then I will. We plan to continue this situation until the refinance is complete and she is to take full responsibility for the house.

We're having it written into the decree that we are both responsible for our auto payments and upkeep since our vehicles are in each others name. I had heard that this might be beneficial when applying for a home loan.

Even with a $1000/month house payment, my debt/income ratio will only be about 30-35% of my gross monthly income and both my credit cards are up to date etc. No past loan defaults etc.

Ask more, I'm not shy, lol. Thanks for the input. We are being more civil now to each other than we have been in a long time!
 
Back
Top