Getting a Home Loan Before Starting New Jobs

Reader Question: My husband has good credit but very little work history or income. I have bad credit but good work history and income and just finished school. We are moving to another town soon. Is it possible to get a home loan before actually starting our new jobs that will be offering higher incomes?

I think you're going to have a hard time getting a mortgage loan without current income. It may have been possible in the past -- based on your work history, current assets, etc. -- but in this economy there's much less chance of that happening.

My wife and I did something similar a few years ago. We left our jobs in one state and moved to another state. We did not have jobs waiting for us, but we were confident we could find jobs fairly quickly. I'm not sure that we could have qualified for an actual home loan at that point, but we did get approved by a home builder to start the building process on a home. They knew they could've sold it to somebody else if we fell through, so we got the go-ahead to customize the floor plan, choose all the options, and start construction. Thankfully, we got jobs soon after that and were able to qualify for the home loan.

Like I said, that was a few years ago. So I'm not sure that would work in the current market, where many home builders are struggling and laying off employees.

The other scenario is to move into an apartment in your new city (temporarily), and then apply for a home loan when you're actively employed. This will also give you time to learn the "lay of the land" and choose an area where you want to live, if you haven't already decided. I think this is your best bet given the current state of the economy. That's my opinion, anyway.

As for the bad credit / good credit issue, you may want to check out the related Q&A session below:

My Spouse Has Bad Credit - Can We Get a Mortgage?

Hope that helps. Good luck with your move and your new jobs.