Get a Job and Then Buy a House, Not Vice Versa
By Ilyce Glink

Q: I recently read two of your books and have a question.

My husband and I live on the East Coast and are trying to relocate to the Midwest. I have contacted a buyer broker in our new state and have been pre-qualified by a national lender (in the local East Coast office near where I live) for a home purchase in our new state. I also have a hefty cash down payment ready to use for a house purchase.

The buyer broker told me that I would not be able to buy a home in my new state without having a job and a pay stub from a job in the local area.

I don't understand this. My husband and I are looking for new jobs in our new state. Can we buy a home out of state with the intent to reside in the state within 60 days?

Is this buyer broker just brushing me off because I live out of state?

I want to buy a home before I move to our new state and start work. Is this possible? I don't know if this matters, but this is my first home purchase.

A: You say that you've been prequalified to purchase a home in your new state.

However, that prequalification was probably based on you continued employment at your current job.

The income and job used to prequalify you and your spouse for this purchase will not be available to you when you move. I'm not sure whether you made this clear to your lender during the prequalification process.

Also, prequalification is a far cry from getting preapproved for a loan. In the preapproval process, you actually apply for the loan and go through the verification process. It's possible that your lender didn't realize you were moving halfway across the country, or figured that in the prequalification process, that didn't matter.

The fact that you're moving without a job is problematic if you intend to buy a house. If you quit your job and then try to close on a house, you may not be able to at the last moment. That would be a disaster for you and the sellers.

If you're trying to close on your new home before November 30, 2009, in order to take advantage of the up to $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, you should intensify your job hunt so that you won't have a problem qualifying for the mortgage.

As for the buyer broker, perhaps this was the message he or she was trying to convey. In the current mortgage market, you might not qualify for a loan without having a job or enough assets to put up as collateral. Perhaps the buyer broker didn't want to spend a lot of time with buyers who may ultimately not be able to afford a home.

My advice: Find a job. Then, buy a home.

Q: My ex-spouse and I purchased a home together in 2001. He was the primary borrower and I was the co-borrower.

I also owned an investment property in another state that went under, but it was listed as commercial property, not residential property.

As a single mom, would I technically be a first-time buyer for a home I wish to live in with my daughters?

A: If you haven't owned property in the last three years, you'd qualify as a first-time buyer under federal rules.

I can't tell from your e-mail when you sold the property you co-owned with your ex-spouse. If you sold it in 2005, and haven't owned a home since, you would probably qualify.

The issue with your failed commercial property investment is an interesting twist. If it was a true commercial property investment, then you may be fine. A HUD-certified housing counselor may be able to provide some additional guidance. You can find one by going to the HUD.gov Web site and clicking on the "housing counselor" link.

A bigger issue for you is where your credit history and credit score are now that you're divorced. With a failed investment property on your credit, you may not have a high enough credit score to qualify for even an FHA loan.

Pull a copy of your credit history at annualcreditreport.com, and when you're there pay $8 to buy a copy of your credit score from Equifax, which is most similar to the credit score used by the vast majority of mortgage lenders.

Paying Off the Mortgage: Readers Tell Their Stories
By Ilyce Glink

One of the big topics of conversation is figuring out when refinancing or prepaying your mortgage makes sense.

House Prices, Mortgage Interest Rates Key to Housing Market Recovery
By Ilyce Glink

With housing prices falling and mortgage interest rates rising, it's hard to say the housing market has bottomed out. And, yet, there are some reasons for a more optimistic housing forecast, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com

Reverse Mortgages Don't Allow You to Borrow 100 Percent of Home Value
by Ilyce Glink - Real Estate Matters

A reverse mortgage allows homeowners over the age of 62 to tap into their home equity. You can either take the money in a lump sum, as a line of credit (which it sounds like your husband opted to do), monthly payments, or a combination of all three.

Ask the Real Estate Lawyer - June 21, 2009
By Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin

Ask the Real Estate Lawyer - June 14, 2009
By Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin

Ilyce R. Glink's latest ebooks are "Save Your House From Foreclosure" and "The Clutter Collector: How to Get Rid of Clutter Everywhere In Your House," which are available at her Web site, www.thinkglink.com. If you have questions, you can call her radio show toll-free (800-972-8255) any Sunday, from 11 am-1 pm EST. You can also write to Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO Box 366, Glencoe, IL 60022

(c) 2009 REAL ESTATE MATTERS DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.