Buying a House as a Single Woman: What You Need to Know

There will be times when a wife wants to buy a house without her husband. It might be due to the husband having poor credit or the wife might be buying the house as an investment. Whatever the reason, a wife usually does not require her husband when it comes to buying a house, providing she has good credit and depending upon the type of loan that is being sought. With the average woman living five years longer than the average man and with women's wages becoming more comparable to men's wages, women who did not think they could buy a house without their husbands are learning otherwise.

FHA

Depending upon the state where the loan application is filed, some FHA loans require the husband to sign the loan agreement, even if he is not going to be buying the house. This is so the husband's income and/or debt can be factored into the mortgage equation. The non-purchasing spouse has to undergo a credit check and even though a bad credit score cannot affect the loan, the credit check is a requirement.

Bad Credit

There are times when a husband's bad credit can prevent a wife from buying a house. However, if the wife completely removes the husband from the mortgage application and has good credit, she will be able to purchase the house, pending approval. The downside to this is the loan amount might not be as much as if the husband was also on the loan, since most mortgages are based upon debt-to-income ratios.

Community Property

An area where a wife can have a house without any husband involvement is if the house is a gift to her. Even in community property states, inherited properties are considered to be "separate property."

Single Women

Single women are able to buy houses without having a husband, with some lenders making it more convenient to do so. Some lenders allow counting child support as income and also allow divorced women to count as "first time buyers," even if the woman bought a previous home when she was married. In addition, there are some lenders that are letting women use different forms of credit history, such as wireless phone bills, since some women do not have a credit history outside of marriage.