Primary vs investment

[resourcebroker1]

I have a borrower who is wanting to refi on a loan. Scenario is mortgage is on wife;s name. He wants to put one property under his name and refi as primary. can this be done since he does not have the loan under his name. If so what would lenders ask for. would they want to see wife's credit report even though it's going to be re-fi'd under his name only?

[Troy]

The only way underwriters are willing to accept this is when the husband has been writing the checks for the mortgage for usually 12 months.

Furthermore, they are going to make him prove that it is his primary residence. Driver's license, utility bills, etc. would probably also have to be in his name. If the underwriter is really anal, then they're going to look at the proximity of the two homes in relationship to where he works.

Also, if he has a mortgage for his current primary residence, they're probably going to raise an eyebrow at the scenario.

They wouldn't necessarily look at the wife's credit report, but that doesn't mean the loan will be easy. If there's a low LTV on the property, you may be able to do it as a second home with little or no hit. My vote is usually write a convincing LOE document the b'jesus out of the file and send it over. If it's a complete file, the underwriter may see an easy bonus and closed loan and send it through.

Hope that helps!

Troy