Two people get married for many reasons. The ideal reasons are love, connection, sharing the same values and wanting to build a family. No one gets married just for the wedding gifts, but there’s nothing wrong with planning the best use of what you may receive. Generally, when you get married, your guests, family and friends want to express their good wishes and love, and they do that by buying you something that you requested in a wedding registry somewhere, giving you cash or check, or depending how close they are to you, asking you what you need. Furniture, bedding, appliances, dishware, silverware, glassware, etc., are always needed, BUT… Did you ever think of setting up a “down payment for a home” account? It’s not really that hard to do. Lenders look at credit, income and down payment in order for you to qualify for a mortgage loan. If you have the credit and the income but are short on the down payment and closing costs, wedding gifts may be the push over the gate to home ownership. You can be in a home with as little as 3 percent down depending on the purchase price. Let’s take an example.

A home selling for $500,000 in New Jersey needs at least 3 percent or $15,000 down payment, plus closing costs of an estimated $5,000 (and there are several ways of structuring closing costs if creativity is needed to get you over the finish line). We are talking $20,000 to own a home. There is no telling what you will wind up with in terms of cash gifts, but you may be able to parlay what you get into home ownership.

Sooo, what do you need to do? The key to document this source of gift for a down payment is as follows:

• • A copy of the marriage license or certificate.
• • Verification of the gift funds in the borrower’s account.
• • Gift funds must be deposited in the borrower’s account within 60 days of the date of the marriage license of certificate.
• • No gift letter is needed, but any deposits made after the 60-day window of the wedding date will not be able to be counted as a wedding gift from unrelated persons as defined as an acceptable gift donor.

For all those who have forthcoming weddings, mazel tov!

By Carl Edward Guzman

Carl Guzman, NMLS# 65291, CPA, is the founder and president of Greenback Capital Mortgage Corp. He is a residential financing expert and a deal maker with over 28 years’ experience. He currently has 174 five-star reviews on Zillow. Carl and his team will help you get the best mortgage financing for your situation and his advice will save you thousands! www.greenbackcapital.com  [email protected]