First Home Buyer With a spouse that has an ITIN

[Sean Kennedy]

Hey y'all, 

I am a first time home buyer in NC and planning to utilize an FHA. My question pertains to my wife who has not been granted citizenship or a green card in the US yet.

If I list her solely on the mortgage we can only get an ITIN mortgage according to the 3 lenders I've spoken too which would require 15-20% downpayment with a higher interest rate due to the assumed risk. 

Can I list my wife as a tenant under a lease agreement to utilize her income for the mortgage and pre approval? I haven't found any solid legal advice on doing such only that NC law allows immigrants to lease. I am no lawyer so some of the verbiage is confusing as well as to what a spouse can be listed as on the mortgage. 

Thank you all in advance!

[Jason Wray]

Sean,

FHA allows for the use of green card and for DACA recipients. You cannot use any proposed income or rent of a person that is family. You can use rental income if it was a multifamily 2-4 unit but you cannot use it for you wife or a person renting a room. Boarder income is only allowed if it is collected on your taxes or if you can show (12) months canceled checks.

ITIN also offer a 10% down program as well but can you not qualify just with your income? Do you know if they are using all of your income including overtime, bonuses, higher income if most recent year is higher. 1099 income can be tough for some lenders since they use a generic worksheet and do not do the math correctly.