Having trouble making that down payment? Call your parents
One of the biggest obstacles for first time home buyers is the down-payment. Financial experts say that parental help is best when the money is usually a gift, with no expectation of repayment. That is because loans from family members can create extra hurdles when a home buyer applies for a mortgage.
Lenders typically view a family loan as another burden that could affect a borrower’s ability to make monthly payments, said Tom Wind, executive vice president of residential and commercial lending at national lender EverBank. In fact, a loan from a parent could raise a borrower’s debt-to-income ratio sufficiently to result in disqualification for a mortgage, he added.