More couples taking home-buying leap
The National Association of Realtors says unmarried couples buying a home together are the second fastest growing segment of American home buyers. In 2007, unmarried couples accounted for 7 percent of all home buyers. Their average age was 32 years old, which makes them the youngest of all first-time home buyers.
Whether it’s the economy or just changing times driving those numbers, it’s important for all parties involved to remember that the mortgage changes the partnership from strictly friendship or romance to a business one. What do both people need to think about before they tie this particular knot?
Marin Stephenson, 28, and Dan Kraushaar, 30, were neighbors in a Marietta apartment community. “We were each paying a little over $1,000 a month, throwing all that money away on rent,” says Stephenson. “Interest rates were dropping and it seemed like a good time to buy. We were in a pretty serious relationship, thinking about getting engaged, so we thought we’d combine our rent money and put it toward something that would be ours.” Kraushaar says, “We started looking for a home in a good school district for Marin’s 8-year-old daughter.