While this certainly isn’t the traditional way to display your love and commitment, couples are now choosing to wait on their engagement in order to buy a home first. New York Times Real Estate recently reported that couples ready to be married, but rent in some of the most expensive cities are now waiting on their vows to buy that home first.

So how does this work with the First-Time Home Buyer tax credit? Well, only one of the two can claim it unless they are married, which shouldn’t be a problem considering the two are going to be together anyways.

With the jewelry industry setting the cost of engagement rings around 3 months of salary, and weddings and honeymoons costing even more, it’s no wonder people are waiting to be married when the money can be put towards time-sensitive investments.

And time-sensitive it is. Buying a home now is a huge discount that many couples just can’t afford to ignore. The $8,000 from the tax credit combined with low mortgage rates and property values adds up to be around 25-50% off the price of a home. If you live in New York City, or a similarly expensive city, the choice is often to buy now or save for many more years to come.

Of course with this plan comes the assumption that the couple will not break up. The location of the home and other compromises that were made in buying the home together may become a bitter disagreement if the relationship fails. One way around this is for the house to be in only one person’s name, and to add the spouse to the title after marrying.

Regardless of how you want to purchase the home, one thing is for sure – now is the best time to buy a home or refinance, and these opportunities won’t last long. So contact a Home Loan Expert today to begin shopping for a home.

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