I'm 25 years old. I Stupidly desided to help out my Brother by co-signing on a loan for a house for him and his newly pregnant fiance' . I was promised it would only be for a year then they could re-fi and get me off. It's been a year, nothing has happened. The main problem is my Brother has terrible credit. He was unable to get a loan put in his name, so I am not just a co-signer, the house is in my name. I am the first person on the loan. I don't know how to get out of it. They have done nothing to fix his credit. They tried to pull out an equity loan to do so, because they already have 100,000 to pull, but the percentage rate wasn't what they could handle. So that idea died. I've recently had this urge to buy some property of my own, but I can't. I can't buy a car, I can't get a credit card, I probably couldn't even move out of my apartment if I wanted to without being credit checked. Who wants to rent, or sell, or finance a person with a morgage responsibility on their record? - DEBT TO INCOME RATIO - I'm stuck. I have a good job, pretty good credit, hardly any bills, and a peice of crap car that is about to die on me. I've been told that I should make the house look like an income property. That way I could at least buy a decent car. But how do I do that? Can anyone help me? Does anyone have any advice? I stupidly went into this thing blind, and now I'm really stuck, in the dark, and alone. Please someone throw out an idea....It would be much appreciated....

Stacy,

That was very nice of you to help your brother, but it sounds like he is not helping you. I may be wrong, but I am reading your message and you say that you have $100,000 in equity???? If that is the case, there are plenty of banks that would refinance your house, especially if you have owned it for over 12 months. If you were to refi, you could cash out to allow you to get into another property. But before you go out and buy another property, I suggest you have a heart to heart with your brother and let him know that what he has done is hurting you greatly. If he is a loving brother, he should be a man and get out of your house and go rent an apartment. It sounds like he is irresponsible and he may leach off you for many more years if you don't put your foot down. There is no reason for you to be living in an apartment when you can afford to live in a house that has that much equity.

In terms of going out and buying other properties, you need to sit down and write out a plan, and figure out if this is something you really want to do. There is a lot of money to be made in real estate, but it is not a "get rich quick" process like you see on info-mercials. You need to do your homework on the market where you live, a good realtor can help with this, but find one that you can trust. Because, there are a lot of them out there that will try to sell you on terrible properties just so they can make there commision.

I bought my first couple investment properties using the equity in my own house. This was great for me, but it may not be good for you. You just need to buy right, and if the numbers work and you have good credit and a good job, there are plenty of banks that will lend to you on investment properties.

Well, I hope this helps. You need to get your brother out of that house and off that note. He is holding you back when you went out of your way and really put yourself on the line for him. I hope he understands that. Good Luck

Jim

Hey Jim,
Yes, I've been told that they already have about $100,000 in equity. They bought the house for cheap from a friend. The house nextdoor from them was appraised at double what we paid for, and it's the same layout. I don't want to live in the house. I don't particulary like the neighborhood. And I can't kick my brother, his wife and their 11 month old baby out on the street. So you think we could re-fi ? They keep making it seem impossible. I'll try talking with some loan people, but it's so hard to trust anyone. And they're so hard to understand sometimes. I thank you very much for your response and I appreciate your advice!

For more concrete answers about what is possible you need to talk to a lender or two and have them go over the numbers. As long as your brother has a job and substantial equity, he will find someone to give him a loan. You need to sit down with your brother first and then sit with the lenders to figure out.

I think is a matter of being honest with your brother and not being afraid of lenders.

Hi there.......thought I'd post to let you know that I'd like to talk to you more about your situation. I think I may be able to do something to help- One route would be if your brother could provide cancelled checks to show payments on the mortgage for the last 12 months (You didn't mention if you paid the note, so I'm assuming he did) how about a lease-purchase agreement backdated from the month he moved in? A lot of the wholesale lenders will treat a lease purchase (or a transfer of deed within a family, if there's no checks to show payment) as a refi, and with that much equity, he should be able to get financed. I specialize in "sub-prime"....those hard to place loans that not everyone can get done. Worst Case scenario, you refi and get enough cash out to get in your own home. Either way, I could pass along any lease agreements or whatever we could figure out to get you back on track. Call me anytime, the number in my signature is my cell phone. Toll Free to my office is 1-866-876 - 4562. Good Luck!

WOW! it was nice of you to do that, but you are relying on your brother to wreck your credit as well. One thing you could do is give your apartment to your brother, he will have a place to live, next sell the house and be on your way. what ever profit you make on it split it both ways, hes propably not attached to it anyway. if you have $100,000 in equity thats 50 grand each. dont worry what hes going to do. I would break ties with him financially. if you both make out, theres no hard feelings. my guess is hes not ready to sell. if his credit is really bad 50 grand wont help him.

Need credit restored and credit scores higher Please call for more information Lets get your brother ready to put this house in his name in 90 -120 days depend on his will to get this done.



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