Heartiest congratulations amigos! Wish you a great married life ahead. Real Estate investment for married couples is always a debate. This next HousingMan blog gives you the list of what married couples should be doing and not be doing while investing together.
Marriage is one of the important milestones in every individual’s timeline. And after marriage two individual timelines often get clubbed together to attain those common goals and targets. Now is the time for the next big milestone after marriage which will give leaps and bounds to your future. Yes! You guessed it right. I am talking about buying a real estate property of your own as a couple. But did you ever give a critical look to this fairytale move? Every coin has two sides, and so does every step in life. When you as a couple are going for this big time investment, Here’s HousingMan happy to provide you those extra words of advice which will make your celebration worthy enough to announce it whole heartedly to the world yet moving carefully ahead after analysing all legal risks and implications.
Do’s for Married couples planning for an investment in Real Estate
- If both husband and wife are working individuals, then they should apply for a joint loan for purchase of property, as it will help both the spouses to avail a bigger loan amount and moreover the loan liability will be shared by two shoulders
- Also, Applying for a joint loan helps avail tax benefit under Income Tax Act, by both the individuals.
- The stamp duty on getting the property purchased under wife’s name only or jointly attracts lower cost than that bought solely by the male partner. Hence, work out your legalities rightly.
- In the event of death of any one of the partner, do remember that the ownership transfer becomes very difficult if the property was owned solely by just one partner. If it had been joint ownership everything becomes hassle free.
- Enter into a written agreement prior to marriage or at the time of marriage, pertaining to which property will be coming under whose kitty if divorce/separation takes place in future. A Pre-nuptial agreement is not only the latest fad but also a well-calculated future decision.
- Maintain a specific book of records which clearly states that which part of the property will be treated under sole ownership of one spouse only and which property will be considered as dual.
- Keep the solely owned property records distinguished from the common property of husband and wife, because later on, at times of marital disputes it becomes very difficult to divide the property between the two spouses. It often becomes an ugly blame-game or court procedures to settle out the issues.
Dont’s for Married couples planning for an investment in Real Estate
- Don’t use non-marital funds or assets to purchase joint property after marriage. Or else those non-marital funds will also be considered marital.
- Don’t forget to get a property, partnership, or cohabitation agreement done between husband and wife which outlines the common property related terms and conditions along with the percentage of equity holding of each partner in property especially if separate amounts were paid for mortgage and down payment.
- Don’t miss on selecting one of the three options when you both have invested jointly in the property, in context to title of ownership. The options are one partner can become sole owner or second option is joint tenant or thirdly tenants in common.
The aspirations of owning a home jointly after marriage are high, with this short list of Do’s and Don’ts on Real Estate investment for married couples the practical picture gets more crisp and clear. Of course no one imagines the critical part at time of happy moments like marriage, but there is no harm in being aware of the worst.
