Divorce and assuming a mortgage

[Jesse Ignell]

I'm going through a divorce a determining whether I want to buy my spouse out of our primary home or sell it and split the proceeds. The mortgage on our primary home is 3%. The lender (Mr. Cooper) said that the mortgage is assumable (there is path that would allow me to remove spouse from mortgage and retain the current rate), but the process can take a while, is subject to fees, and they need to reevaluate my ability to qualify for the mortgage without my spouse. The uncertainty makes me a bit uncomfortable. The last thing I want to do is deploy a large amount of cash to buyout my spouse only to then have the lender raise my interest rate to today's rates. My annual gross income is $156,000. Monthly payment (including insurance and taxes) is $2,600. I also have an investment property that nets $1,200 a month and the monthly payment is $800. I'm trying to gauge the likelihood that I'm able to assume the mortgage at its current rate. Anyone been in a similar situation or is able to provide any insight?

Also, no kids and no expected ongoing payments to spouse. Just need to determine whether to buy out or sell for this house.

[Theresa Harris]

Start the process for a pre-approval. They should be able to do that relatively quickly.