I recently accepted another pastorate. We have been looking at buying a home, as the new church has no parsonage, and rental property is hard to come by.
But -
While we have a solid credit score, and the new church is giving a sufficient housing allowance in addition to base salary and benefits, underwriters are throwing red flags over the fact that we have no recent (past 4 years) "housing record" - aka - we haven't paid rent or a house payment in that time.
Our loan officer has been talking to underwriters at several mortgage banks, and they all are hesitant to write a loan without that housing background. She is frustrated, and we are disappointed.
But I thought it a good idea to post this so that others can keep this in mind - especially if you are a pastor in a position where you may one day need to buy a home, or are possibly going to be living in a parsonage... Just something to keep in mind.
Another negative aspect of living in a church parsonage..
Discussion in 'Pastoral Ministries' started by Batt4Christ, Jun 9, 2013.
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Batt4Christ MemberSite Supporter
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I agree about this. As I get ever closer to retirement, my house is a particular investment. It is one that I would not have if I was living in a church owned parsonage. -
Thanks for that info- very timely for us!
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I'm wondering how a military guy would answer this.
Say he is overseas for three years (which is common) lives in govt quarters - he does not pay rent, just does not get BAQ - comes back to the Stats and then buys a house.
Thats exactly what I did twice- granted many years ago - and I had no problem getting a loan. -
And as one who is in the process of trying to sell my house now, I'll tell you that things have really tightened up since 2008. Getting a mortgage is much more difficult unless you have a perfect credit score and 20% to put down. -
The point is - I had not history of paying rent for 3 years - and I still got a loan -for which I could afford.