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I was talking with one of my co-workers the other day about my home refinance. As we were talking, one of our other co-workers overheard the conversation.

This is a new co-worker that transferred from another office a couple of weeks ago so we do not know each other that well.
She and her fiancee are in the process of buying their first home and she had a couple of questions about the process. I answered her questions to the best of my knowledge and told her that I'd bought two homes in my lifetime.

They have a good down payment but they are having problems getting a loan because her fiancee has poor credit. I suggested if she can afford the payment on her own, she should get the loan in her name only.
She gave me a funny look and said "they won't let me buy a home by myself".

I asked her what she meant and she said if she did that, she would be considered "single" and they would not give her the loan. She has a strong credit score and she is fronting the down payment.
I don't know where she got this impression from but I advised her that I am single and I have bought two homes on my own. She was really surprised and said "I thought you were married and had kids since you owned a house."

My other co-worker almost fell out of his chair when she said that. I had to explain to her that yes, single people can buy homes too. As long as you can afford the payment, have good credit and a down payment, pretty much anyone can buy a home.




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12 comments

  1. sara l // July 29, 2009 at 9:46 AM  

    :) Our mortgage is in just my name because adding my (then) fiance's credit would have changed things negatively. Personally I think the amount of loan they approved me for on my former salary is crazy, but that's a whole other discussion.

  2. Sallie's Niece // July 29, 2009 at 10:00 AM  

    Oh jeez don't give this woman any more advice since she is clearly clueless and maybe she shouldn't be buying a home. She's probably think she should spend as much as she gets approved for too.

  3. nfmgirl // July 29, 2009 at 2:21 PM  

    *waving* Single woman here, and I bought my first home last October!

  4. Anonymous // July 29, 2009 at 8:38 PM  

    Great post. I hope after I clean up my situation. I can say the same.

  5. Little Dough Girl // July 30, 2009 at 12:20 AM  

    That is AWESOME! I'm a single mom and I bought my house and managed to get a 30 year fixed rated of 6.15% all by my very own self. Ask her is she knows we own furniture too...

  6. SingleGuyMoney // July 30, 2009 at 7:01 AM  

    @Sallie's Niece: LOL. Probably so.

    @nfmgirl: Congratulations!

    @Little Dough Girl: LOL. I don't want to surprise her too much.

  7. MEG // July 30, 2009 at 1:27 PM  

    So typical that a woman - the one with the good credit and money for a downpayment no less - would assume she's still financially inferior because she's not yet married.

    This is just an extension of the problem of many women (and men too, but especially women) assuming their financial lives will start and their goals be met once they finally find a man. Ugh.

    On a related note, people never cease to do a double take when they find out I own real estate (being a single female 20-something). Then of course they assume my daddy must have helped me.

  8. Unknown // July 31, 2009 at 10:48 PM  

    That's really funny. When I purchased my second home I had my mortgage lender tell me the same thing. Not the part about single's buying a home, but that she thought single's would not or should not. Good thing this was my second time around.

  9. Laura // August 1, 2009 at 2:43 PM  

    and your company hired this woman??

  10. FunnyAboutMoney // August 2, 2009 at 11:36 AM  

    Isn't that amazing...in this day and age!

    Now back in the Dark Ages, when I was a young thing, my mother (as a married woman) had to have a power of attorney from my father to conduct any financial transaction that entailed an amount larger than the weekly grocery bill. My father went to sea, and he left her a stack of powers of attorneys (these would be taken away from her when she made a major transaction). If her child was injured or sick and a medical decision had to be made for, say, surgery, she could not make it on her own unless she had a power of attorney in her hand. She needed a power of attorney to sell our old car and buy a new one--in cash. Could she have purchased a house on her own, in her own name only? I don't know...but I doubt it. Not as a married woman, anyway; I'm sure she could have done it as a single woman, but in those days few single women earned enough to qualify for a mortgage.

    Someone needs to explain to our gal that we turned off the gaslights a few years ago and now we have this amazing stuff called electricity!

    Hmmmmm. In a community property state, if one member of an already married couple purchases a house in her or his name and then both partners contribute toward payment of the mortgage, does the house become community property EVEN THOUGH the first spouse's name is the only one on the mortgage and deed? Or conversely, if only the person whose name is on the documents pays toward the loan and the person can prove it was paid exclusively from his or her own paycheck, is the house sole & separate property? Even if the other partner contributes toward repairs and nonmoveable upgrades like a new furnace or air-conditioner?

    What sounds on the surface like a stupid assumption actually is a fraught question, eh?

  11. MoneyEnergy // August 2, 2009 at 1:04 PM  

    ha ha ha h.... sorry to laugh, but these moments of truth are always funny. I will probably be legally single when I buy my first home, too:) Can't wait!:) Want to learn lots from all you other singles who did it, too:)

  12. payday loans // September 3, 2009 at 10:07 AM  

    everything works if you have a good job and if you know how and when to spend your money