Should Married People Be Buying a House Without Their Spouse: br br Save Money with a Hauseit Buyer Closing Credit: br br You certainly can buy a house without your spouse, and sometimes this may be the wiser move if your spouse has poor credit or lots of existing debt. However, whether you should buy a house without your significant other depends on your pre-nuptial agreement, state laws around community property and the state of your relationship. br br So When Should You Buy a House Without Your Spouse? br br Your Spouse Has Bad Credit br br Your spouse might have bad credit or simply a lot of existing debt which would make it hard for them to secure a loan. Worse still, your spouse’s poor financial condition may affect your ability to get a loan if you applied together as co-borrowers. br br As a result, sometimes it makes more sense to simply exclude one spouse from the loan application and to apply for a mortgage individually. Keep in mind however this often will mean that your spouse won’t be allowed on the title as well. Most banks will require everyone on the title for a property to also be a co-borrower. br br You Wish to Keep an Investment Property Separate br br You may simply wish to keep what’s yours, yours. Perhaps you have a rock solid pre-nuptial agreement with your spouse that allows property purchased separately with individual funds to be kept as separate property. br br Buying Your Spouse out of a House br br Buying your spouse out of a house may an interesting move if you wish to make a house separate vs marital property, perhaps in advance of a divorce. br br This can be advantageous if you do plan on getting a divorce, as this will preclude any messy fights about the ownership of a house, and who gets to live in it. br br If you do decide to pursue this route, first check your pre-nuptial agreement to make sure that this type of transaction is allowed, especially if the house is marital property. Your pre-nuptial agreement should specify whether marital, jointly owned property can be made back into separate property. br br Once this is confirmed, then it’s up to you and your spouse to determine a fair value for the house. Read our guide on how to price my home for sale so you can learn how to do a comparative market analysis and come up with a reasonable price for your home. br br Once you’ve done that, you can then simply offer to pay your spouse a pro rata share of the valuation. br br Alternatively, you can hire an appraiser or simply get price opinions for free from several brokers. You can also take things a step further by actually listing the home for sale, and seeing what the open market will bear.