Have you ever/would you ever.........

[WV_mom_of2]

ask someone to co-sign a loan for you?

Here is the situation. We need to refinance our house and get away from Wells Fargo. We have one of those lovely adjustable rate loans with them and it will adjust in April. Probably good as the interest rates are low enough right now that our payment would probably go down quite a bit. HOWEVER..... the loan then adjusts every six months after that. When we signed the loan papers this concerned me and the loan officer assured me that it COULD adjust every six months but they usually didn't do that, we had nothing to worry about with it. Dumb me! I called this morning and was told it will ALWAYS adjust, EVERY six months. I hate hate hate Wells Fargo.

Anyhoo.....we bank with a small town local bank. These people are wonderful, always willing to work with us at any time. I called and talked to our loan officer there this morning and he told me he'd love to refinance to their bank. Problem is we owe too much on the house for a loan. He thinks he can get us a 5 year balloon rate for 20 years with a strong co-signer though. Our payment would drop 200.00 a month, we'd be with our little bank and he said after five years they would strongly consider and most likely drop the co-signers from the loan. He said this has nothing to do with us, our credit score and payment history are great. It's just that we owe more than the bank will loan for what the house is worth.

My parents and dh's would both make good co-signers. My parents have never been willing to co-sign(I've never asked them either, but they wouldn't for my brother). Dh's parents used to co-sign for vehicles for him before we got married. I am considering going this route. We can make the payments, that's not an issue.

I'm feeling that dh will probably refuse to ask his parents. He has always seemed to feel that my family should be the ones to help us out. We've borrowed money from them in the past for short periods of time and always paid it back so they might consider doing it.

I'm just torn. We NEED to refinance. Wells Fargo told me this morning that we could look into refinancing with them into a fixed rate but that means we deal with them for 25 more years and I hate the very thought of that. I'd really love to move it our little bank. I just hate to ask for help too. UGH!

[never2late]

My parents cosigned my first car loan, I think $2800 ?, 30 years ago, but were absolutely not happy about doing it. Would I cosign for someone? Not unless I was prepared to take over the payments. If I were in your shoes I think I would bite the bullet and refinance at Wells Fargo, even as much as you hate it, or look for other options. A mortgage is an awfully big thing to ask someone to cosign for you. Sorry... (hugs)

[Kitten20]

Yes, I have asked my grandparents to co-sign for me in the past. They have co-signed for a car and an apartment. I have never (and would never) let them down. It is not something I enjoy doing AT ALL. It is very, very difficult for me to ask for help, but sometimes that is the only way.

You know your parents. If you don't think that it will cause any discomfort and you know you are able to make the payments, I would find a way to ask. We all need help sometimes... and a savings of $200/mo would be too good to pass up, imo.

[mombottoo]

The answer to both of your questions is no.

I would never co-sign for any type of loan for anyone...not even one of my kids. Asking someone to co-sign is asking them to put their financial lives on hold until the co-signed loan is paid off.

A mortgage is a huge loan and asking anyone to cosign it is asking an awfully lot.

[Grainlady]

How to make enemies with friends or relatives.... We co-signed a loan for hubbies brother many years ago. Doesn't everyone want to help your younger brother out of a financial bind???

It was a good (and expensive) lesson and we never co-signed anything ever again for anyone. He defaulted on the loan and we paid it off so we could keep our good credit rating. It meant our family did without until that loan was paid off.

Don't you want to know what we thought of him every time he drove over to show us his newest "toy"?

[Greebo]

That's a crappy loan to begin with. A 5 year balloon is not a loan you want - in 5 years you're going to be in serious panic mode.

Shop around. Wells Fargo and your local bank are not the only options.

Check out http://www.metlifehomeloans.com/ and http://www.churchhillmortgage.com/ for starters.

[Greebo]

Also look for me in chat if you want to talk in more detail

[redmaples]

My step father once co signed a small loan for us...it all turned out good.
'I co signed a very small student loan for DD1, knowing I would have no problem making payments & am helping her pay it off now.
Young brother in law once wanted us to co sign for a loan on a sports car. We didn't hesitate to say 'No' to that. We had never owned a car with a price tag as that car had that he wanted to buy & he was asking us to help out with that?!

I would not co sign, nor ask any one to co sign on a loan as big as a mortgage.

[NikoSan999]

No, I wouldn't do it. Nobody is safe anymore. Wouldn't want that kind of pressure on someone else.

[derrygirl]

My husband co-signed on a car loan for his son (my stepson) a few years ago. He had the loan for 3 years as he put a good chunk of change down. Out of 36 payments he was late 28 times!!!!! Dropped my hubby's credit a little and put an end to us as co-signers!

[WV_mom_of2]

That's a crappy loan to begin with. A 5 year balloon is not a loan you want - in 5 years you're going to be in serious panic mode.

Shop around. Wells Fargo and your local bank are not the only options.

Check out http://www.metlifehomeloans.com/ and http://www.churchhillmortgage.com/ for starters.

I think we are going to run into the problem everywhere(other than Wells Fargo) of owing too much on the house. I know the 5 year balloon isn't a great option but it would get us away from Wells Fargo and give us those five years to pay off the credit cards, etc. Then after those five years we could go for a fixed rate or something else. I dunno............

[Russ]

A former friend asked me to co-sign last year.

Knowing his 5 year history of never having a job for more than 6 months, plus his propensity to "creatively" tell stories, I declined.

Last I heard, he got a job and was working 60+ hours per week after losing his home and getting nobody to co-sign for him.

I think I did him a favor, but he won't speak to me.

[monkeywrangler71]

My father cosigned my mortgage so that I could keep the house after my divorce. I didn't qualify by myself but could make the payments easily.

I would do the same for my kids.

[Greebo]

I think we are going to run into the problem everywhere(other than Wells Fargo) of owing too much on the house. I know the 5 year balloon isn't a great option but it would get us away from Wells Fargo and give us those five years to pay off the credit cards, etc. Then after those five years we could go for a fixed rate or something else. I dunno............

You might - but if you don't shop around, you limit the chances of a positive result.

Listen - I had almost zero hope of getting a refinance done myself - because we owe about 218 and Zillow was putting us at 225. However, the right lender and the right appraiser and you might just get the numbers you need - and since this is a refinance on a loan you ALREADY owe, I think it makes sense to shop around and find a lender/appraiser combo willing to work with you to make it happen.

What are the hard numbers? What do you owe, what is the house worth, and how do you know the latter?

[Samigirl]

I would STRONGLY discourage you from asking anyone to cosign for you. We can make the best of plans, but life never happens as we plan it. There are always surprises and things that happen that are out of our control. You don't want to obligate someone else to be a partner in your financial problems...especially a family member. With that being said...I hope you can find a solution that will help your situation.