House = $$$$$$
Ring = $$$$

You could do both! ;-)

Or maybe get a ring from and vending machine... then Ring = $/4

Tell her to see a lawyer before she goes in with you on a house.

Do you mean like fixed/adjustable? I'm not sure yet. Need to do more research.

"Tell her to see a lawyer before she goes in with you on a house."

Her sister is our lawyer and her mother is our real estate agent, so I think she's going to be well covered : )

30 year fixed
10 year interest only(you pay no principal
3,5,or 7 year Arm( adjustable rate mortgage)--lower payment for the early years of the loan, and then they readjust to the current interest rates

Do NOT get a balloon mortgage--unless you truly understand the terms

get a real estate attorney to help with closing

Most likely 30 year. I might do 20 if we end up getting a house way under our budget.

so, this is your first home, and i would assume not a potential dream home for when married and having kids.....the current interest rate environment, is conducive to taking out ARM's and the payment are substantially lower. just my opinion

Yeah, not a dream home by any means, but good enough that we can stay in it as long as needed. I'll look into ARM some more.

at the end of the ARM the mortgage reajusts towards whatever the current rates are, but the movements are capped to X% per year, with a total move not to exceed a certain %

you could save a whole point on your loan

Be aware that bank mortgage managers these days are essentially people who failed their mathematics exams, couldn't get a real job in finance, and ended up as salesmen/ data entry clerks. After a day's worth of research you will know more about mortgages than they do. Just watch out for their sales tricks.

My advice is in the form of a question: Do YOU want to buy a house?

An ARM is only good if you can pay off the mortgage before the rates readjust. Rates are still at historically low levels and are likely to be much higher when the rates readjust like in the last housing bubble.

If you aren't able to pay off the mortgage within 5 years, then you are better off taking a fixed rate one and either paying off more than the minimum to end it sooner or invest the money in something that will give you more than the payment interest rate.

Whatever you do watch for penalties for paying off early.

"We could. It's just not that important to us. The mortgage will most likely be in my name, so I don't think there will be any complications there."

Keep in mind that it *is* important to the people who have been writing property law for the past thousand years or so. But anyway, good luck!

Strange how these things differ across the globe. I'm in pretty much the same situation as abg relationship wise and we got our mortgage a little less than a year ago. We own the home as joint tenants. Essentially if I die she gets my share regardless of marriage. If we'd bought the house as tenants in common we could have had uneven shares of ownership and specified who our share would go to in a will.

Frankly I find the idea of people marrying for the sake of financial contracts appalling and am amazed the American system seems to promote this.

Octavious,

Plenty of US states have the same law you describe, which is why the correct advice in this thread is to consult a local lawyer (which it sounds like maybe abge's gf has already done).

whatever you'll do. Form a Ltd. or similar with your girlfriend where you both buy shares. These shares shall be used to buy the house which is in turn rented back to you. It might seem to be extra work but it is the cleanest way to tackle property rights in case anything goes wrong (between you, illness, death, etc.). It is even possible to exclude house ownership from your marriage agreement, if you will someday marry. It is always better to do so. It will also facilitate reselling the house if you intend to.

Nice to hear that some of the States have a bit of sanity :). Do Americans have solicitors or does the term "lawyer" cover all of that? And what is a 30 year fixed mortgage?

We don't have a split bar -- solicitors and barristers are the same thing here, and yes, it's called lawyer (or attorney). Of course, lawyers may specialize in different things, so your lawyer might find you a trial specialist if you were involved in a sufficiently important case, but that's a matter of prudence, not rule.

A 30 year fixed mortgage means you borrow the money for your house and pay it off at a fixed annual interest rate, in equal payments, over 30 years.

The interest rate is fixed for 30 years!? How the hell do they do that? Ours is fixed for 5 years which, in the UK. Is considered long term.

Don't do it.

Of course he should do it

I find women who say they don't find marriage important a little weird. That's all. Not that I don't like them, I just couldn't imagine one genuinely feeling that way.

bankrate.com shows competitive rates in your area for various types of mortgages, if you haven't seen it. We bought a ranch-style home in Natick MA on a 15 year fixed mortgage that I could afford on my income. 15 years goes by too fast, but at least the mortgage is paid off.

"I find women who say they don't find marriage important a little weird. That's all. Not that I don't like them, I just couldn't imagine one genuinely feeling that way."

over 3 billion women in this world, and redhouse can't imagine a single one genuinely feeling that marriage is not important.

My other half likes the idea of being married, but hates the thought of the actual wedding. As such we've been engaged for years :p. Longer than quite a few weddings these days.

All those Chase points should come in handy.

@oct. it's based on the 30 years USTreasury note. Also ARM mortgages are not ballooned at the end, the nearly a just to the current rate in specific intervals

"Don't do it."

Excellent point. I'm calling it off.