Parental Cosign?

[Convergent]

Um.. I was wondering if it would be wise to have my parents co sign for a mortgage. You see, my credit is not optimal.

I just need a little advice?

[iwantaposhhome]

Do you want your parents to be co-owners of your home? Do THEY want to be co-owners of your home? There are alot of programs these days for borrowers with less than perfect credit. I think I'd check those out first.

Here's the thing: if your parents co-sign your mortgage, they'll probably have to be around to sign when you re-finance or sell your home or take out another loan for improvements. In short, whatever you do with your home in the future will also be up to your parents. Does that make sense? Your parents will be co-owners, and when any legal paperwork comes up, they'll probably have to take part--even if they don't really care what you do with your home.

Of course, that also means that your parents could cause some trouble for you legally--not that they would, of course. But, they COULD because they are co-owners.

Also, if something, God forbid, should happen to you, your parents would become responsible for any mortgage payments yet to be made. Or, if you were delinquent on mortgage payments, your parents would be informed and threatened via mail and phone calls--just as you would be.

If you have good parents, you could have them co-sign with you and likely experience few problems. But, there are alot of reasons to consider finding a loan that will work just for you with your credit history.

[serg stojanovic]

If you absolutley must use your parents to co-sign for a mortgage, make it a priority to NEVER go more then 30 days delinquent. If you can make the payments in a timely fashion for 12-24 months you can bring your credit scores back up to par, at which point you should refinance in ONLY your name and have the attorney at closing execute a "Quit Claim Deed" which will remove your parents from any and all obligation to the property.

This is only if you really must use a co-signer. As the prior post states there ARE many many programs out there for you. Your first step to Home Ownership should be knowing exactly what your credit looks like and obtaining all three reports and scores. Also see if you qualify for an FHA or VA loan.
Here is a link for obtaining your credit repot:

www.nationalcreditreport.com

Hope this helps