Buying a home for the first time is a big life moment, and so is marriage. So if you're considering tying the knot and buying a home, there are a few things you should consider before deciding which you do first.
Mortgage companies won't use the highest credit score between you and your partner or even the average of your scores. They will focus on the lowest credit score, so if your spouse has a credit score that would keep you from getting the best rate possible, you may want to apply before you get married.
For dual-income couples, getting a mortgage with both spouses on the loan usually means you will qualify for a bigger home loan. However, if your spouse isn't on the loan with you, then your lender won't consider your spouse's income. That means you'll probably have to settle for a smaller, less-expensive home.
You also need to take into consideration your spouse's debt-to-income ratio. Watch to find out what that means, and how it could impact your chances of getting the mortgage you want.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
