Unmarried Couples Buying A House
Buying a house is a major commitment. Before you begin searching for a home, you should compare mortgage options and determine who is applying for the mortgage. Unmarried couples will apply for a mortgage as individuals. This means the partner with the stronger financials and credit score may want to purchase the home to get better mortgage terms and interest rates.
unmarried couples buying a house
Buying a house with a partner can be a smart investment in your future, but unmarried couples face unique challenges when buying real estate together and seeking financing. Luckily, there are a few precautions you can take to protect yourself and your partner in case of a breakup or other unexpected event. Before purchasing a home together, you and your partner should:
With inflation high and the cost of living on the rise, more people are considering how to save money on housing expenses. For some, that means moving in with parents, family members or roommates. For others, it might mean buying a house with a significant other before marriage.
What are the main differences in co-owning a house before or after marriage? One of the biggest ones is the mortgage application process. Most married couples apply for a home loan together, which gives them the benefit of combining their income and assets. In contrast, unmarried people typically do not have shared savings or assets and apply as individuals, using the credit score, income and debt-to-income ratio (DTI) of the more financially qualified partner.
In addition, unmarried partners need to put extra thought into protecting themselves with a legal cohabitation agreement, which would not be necessary for married couples. They should also think very carefully about how their shared home will be titled.
In recent years, it has become more common to see unmarried couples buying houses together. Instead of spending their savings on a traditional wedding, more couples than ever are trading wedding bells for that satisfactory jingle of a pair of new house keys.
Rising rent costs, less of a societal push to get hitched, and more economic uncertainty lead some long-term couples to look for more practical ways to show their commitment to each other. After all, a house is generally a better investment than a wedding.
"For anyone buying a home, the first step is always pre-approval," said Melissa Cohn, regional vice president at William Raveis Mortgage in New York, explaining how the step prompts couples to discuss applying for a joint mortgage, property titling and other critical decisions.
One of the most polarizing topics in real estate is the 'should unmarried couples buy a house together' debate. There are two different opinions here, and for good reason. This answer isn't black and white, but we'll dive into some of the commonly asked questions and review a pros and cons list below!
An unmarried couple can certainly buy a home together, and people do it all the time. It's not uncommon for unmarried couples to buy a home together, as there are many benefits of homeownership. In fact, you don't even need to be a 'couple' to buy a home. Often times, friends will purchase a house together as an investment property.
Couples believe buying a house together is a smart financial decision. After all, the sooner a home is purchased, the quicker you start establishing equity in the home and begin laying a financial foundation for your long term future.
One partner may be interested in buying a house but may not have a great credit score. A mortgage lender may be more willing to lend money to an individual if they have a co-signer. The significant other may be the most logical co-signer option. By using a co-signer, the bank will feel more comfortable lending money despite the initially low credit score.
First and foremost, you will want to be sure you can live together as a couple. If you're currently only spending 2-3 nights together per week, consider ramping that up before you purchase property together. Living with someone full-time is certainly an adjustment and you should get acclimated to this before making a major financial decision such as buying a house together.
Unmarried couples may have concerns when it comes to taxes. If one person owns the property and is the only name on the mortgage, they are the one that can claim the house on their yearly tax return. It doesn't matter if the house is being paid via a joint bank account that both partners contribute to.
If both people own the home equally, the unmarried couples or individuals can only claim the portion of property taxes, or interest, they actually paid. The full interest expense deduction can not be received by both parties.
As mortgage rates dropped last year because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, buying a home became more affordable and attractive to a lot of couples. Between July 2019 and April 2020, the percentage of all homebuyers who were unmarried was 9%. After the pandemic was declared in March, that number increased to 11%, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Joint ownership has been on the rise for decades. In 1981, 72% of first-time homebuyers were married. By 2020, that percentage was down to 52%. By contrast, unmarried couples buying their first home together grew from less than 3% to over 16%.
Most couples used to get married before making any major financial decisions together. But today, one in four unmarried couples between 18 and 34 buy a house together, according to a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate.
There are plenty of good reasons for unmarried people to buy a house today, but buying a house outside of marriage can come with big risks. Unless you know how to avoid the potential pitfalls, locking in on a home with your unwed partner could be a costly mistake.
It could be a good idea if you are both ready to jump into this challenge. But if either partner is on the fence about it, then the financial and emotional stress that comes with buying a house might not be worth it.
The reason that many couples wait until marriage to pursue homeownership is the legal risks tied to buying a house without that marriage certificate in hand. When married, there are certain legal protections in place to keep both of your interests safe if a breakup were to happen. Without a marriage certificate, there are many loopholes for an ex to exploit when deciding what to do with the house.
If you want to protect yourself financially when buying a house with a partner, the first step is to decide how the title will be held. The options include sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenants in common, or a living trust.
Assuming you haven't already agreed (pre-breakup) that one person will have first dibs on buying out the other's share in the house, you may use a coin flip or some other simple mechanism to determine who stays and who goes. (These options are included in the house ownership contracts ) Or, if both of you want to keep the house, you can conduct an informal "auction," where the partner who is willing to pay the most gets to keep the place. You can also use mediation or arbitration to resolve the conflict. An arbitrator can be given the power to decide who should stay (after hearing whatever arguments you each make) and perhaps award the selling partner financial compensation for having to move.
If you can agree on who is going to buy the house but can't agree on a sale price, the best way to set the price is to get an appraisal from an experienced real estate appraiser familiar with the local market. If you can't agree on an appraiser, each of you can get your own appraisal and you can average the results. Understand that most appraisals estimate the sale price, but do not take into account the cost of selling the property. If you have your jointly owned real estate appraised and then agree that one of you will buy out the other, you may want to reduce the price by the amount of the real estate commission that would be charged if you sold the place to a third party. In other words, even though you won't have to pay a commission when one of you sells to the other, the buying partner will need to do this eventually, so the buyout evaluation probably should reflect this.
Palimony is a phrase coined by journalists -- not a legal concept -- to describe the division of property or alimony-like support paid to one partner in an unmarried couple by the other after a break-up. Members of unmarried couples are not legally entitled to such payments unless they have a written agreement (or a court finds there was an oral or implied agreement). A written agreement stating that you both will remain financially independent is the best defense against a cry for palimony.
Not unless you have specifically undertaken responsibility to pay a particular debt -- for example, as a cosigner or if the debt is charged to a joint account. By contrast, husbands and wives are generally liable for all debts incurred during marriage, even those incurred by the other person. The one exception for unmarried couples applies if you have registered as domestic partners in a city where the domestic partner ordinance states that you agree to pay for each other's "basic living expenses" (food, shelter and clothing).
Nothing, unless the deceased partner made a will or used another estate planning device such as a living trust or joint tenancy agreement, or, if under the terms of a contract (such as a contract to purchase household furnishings together), the survivor already owns part of the property. This is unlike the legal situation married couples enjoy, where a surviving spouse automatically inherits a major portion of a deceased spouse's property. The bottom line is simple: to protect the person you live with, you must specifically leave her property using a will, living trust or other legal document.
No. There is no specific mortgage interest deduction unmarried couples can take. A general rule of thumb is the person paying the expense gets to take the deduction. In your situation, each of you can only claim the interest that you actually paid. 041b061a72