You have to make a difficult choice. Personally, we would not co-sign for any of our children and they are all very good. It does affect your credit. Maybe a rental would be better at this time.

How responsible is your daughter? Are you prepared for the renters to trash the place and then you have to foot the bill? What if your DD can't make the payments? Can you afford the full mortgage payment to protect your credit if she defaults? What are the tax liabilities to you for having a second home?

Think long and hard about co-signing for your child. You may want to help, but it could cause you financial ruin.

Anybody who can predict when the real estate market has peaked or bottomed out is a liar. But, if you're worried about how market conditions will have on the price, I'd go for a house over a condo. Historically, in a buyer's market, condos have had a bigger drop off than houses.

I would consider buying it in my name and having her pay rent. If you cosign she could screw it up and there is nothing you can do about it

How old is your daughter and how mature / responsible is she? Are you comfortable being responsible for the loan? How about damages to the house? My parents owned a 2 family house, there was times that the tenant didn't take care of their apartment. There was one time where the deposit didn't cover the damage and another that for some reason they did not get a deposit or lease, and when they went to sell I had issues because dad had cancer and couldn't deal with it. If you do decide to do this, be sure to get a lease & deposit.

I have a 22 year old son that went to college a few years ago. The loan was in his name with the parents paying it. His dead beat "father" wouldn't pay his share, and in the end there was over 6 months of unpaid loan.

My son had dropped out after 3 quarters. He was in need of another car. I decided to cosign on a loan for a new car to help his credit because I knew the college loan would eventually show up. In 2 years my son was pretty good with the loan, but there were times he'd forget and have to make a double payment. I was always asking him if he paid it, most times he'd tell me yes or he'll check; it was hard on me trying to let him be an adult and worrying about my credit.

Back in September his cell phone came off of my plan, and last month he was able to take out a personal loan to pay off the loan in my name. What a weight lifted off of my shoulders.

When we went for the bank loan, the lady at the bank said his credit was very good, which surprised me some. He has a gas card & visa that were late a few times but I guess it never got reported. Hopefully, he'll do ok with his new loan.

My husband cosigned a small ($3,000) loan last year for his 29 year old son. This didn't go so well. In the end, my husband had to take out a home equity loan to pay off that loan so that when his son filed bankrupcy, it didn't show on hubby's credit. My husband, at the time, had no clue how irresponsible he'd been since he never told hubby what was going on. It actually would have been easier to fix everything back when the $3,000 loan was taken out instead of a year later.

Go to one of the free credit report sites, get a report for DD. You want to see what she has on it to be sure there isn't something you don't know about. It's very easy for them to get tons of credit cards, my step son had 4 or 5 visas in default.

Money wise, what are the differences between paying rent and paying a mortgage? It may end up to be cheaper to pay her share of rent instead of footing the bill for a mortgage. Are you able to cover a non paying roomie? You also have to worry about them keeping up on chores and not partying / doing damage.

Why is it soo wrong to co-sighn for her daughter??? There is nothing wrong with that.....My dad co-sign for me to help me out while I went to college and I never missed a payment, if anything I actually help his credit out more.

If her daughter is known to be responsible, then she has nothing to worry about. And even if she does miss a payment, I think her mom must of thought all through....

As far as the market is concern, unfortunately, with today's market noone knows what going to happen....if you have to buy someting now then I suggest to look into.

Good Luck-
maria

Maria, I am not saying not to do it because I have no clue if the OP's DD is responsible. In my experience with my son, I did it, had a bit of stress during, but overall, he was ok. This was for a car loan though, not a "house".

With my hubby's son, as I said, bad experience. We'd discussed putting him on our cell phone plan, but after I watched his bank account and current cell plan, I told hubby there was no way I'd agree to it.

Every kid is different. In this case, the OP has to consider not only the payments of his/her DD but rent from 1 or 2 others. That would be my biggest concern if the DD was responsible.

Another question I have is did the OP's DD ever room with someone or did she live at home? My son lived in the dorm when he went; while one room mate (had his own room) was decent, the one my son shared a room with was the pits. Not only was he a slob, he also took over most of the apartment with his stuff and turned out to be violent. My son moved home after a few months. A problem we ran into was chores as none of them wanted to clean.

Working as a REALTOR in a college town, I see this frequently. The question really is who is responsible for seeing the mortgage is paid? If it's daughter, is she responsible enough and does she have enough income on her own to do so? Roommates can come and go. (FYI--this is not SLU)

You also might want to check into any sort of permit that is required for rentals in the area and any rules related to those permits.

In terms of getting started: My experience with the market near our campus is that it is always a difficult area to find something. The sooner you start the better. I would contact a nationally recognized real estate company in the area. Others will disagree with me on this point, but I feel like you have a better chance at getting a competent agent in a national company. Many of the mom and pop type companies in my area employ part-timers (don't get me started on that), or those that can't cut it at one of the bigger companies, and generally have poorly trained agents. (Yes--there are exceptions to this here, But I would always choose a well known franchise over a local company if moving to an area I didn't know--seems like the odds would be better.)

I can't comment on the market in St. Louis, and realize it's a whole different area. I can tell you that even during times when the rest of the market is going down, the market near our campus is almost always a seller's market. (FYI--in general most of this area it is still a seller's market.)

for every 1 successful loan/co-signing to a relative/family member, there are 5 horror stories...I'd rather pay their rent, then co-sign a mortgage or car loan for them..

What happens when they graduate or leave or something like that? Are you doing this in the hopes of turning the property over for a profit or do they have plans to stay in St. Louis? This is becoming an increasing popular thing to do for college students it's just that there is so much uncertainty in that period of time.

And if you're going to be paying for their housing anyway and you just want to kick star their credit, I think that is a very, very nice thing for you to do. Otherwise it's a bit of a burden for them to have to find room mates, especially responsible ones. They may only be roommates for a semester and then what? The process starts again. Then you don't know what roommates are going to do to the place. College students don't make a lot of money. If you had the intention of paying for it and were relatively certain about the STL market then I'd say go for it. Otherwise the best thing you can do is the same thing everyone else does and make some landlord wealthy.

Interesting, I attended graduate school at SLU from 1992 to 1996. I was only 21 when I entered and briefly thought of purchasing a condo. But in my case, not only would I not have had the funds (or a cosigner) but I KNEW I would not be staying in the area after completing school and did not want to deal with the headache of selling in an unknown market. Rent there was extremely cheap compared to where I came from the CA Bay Area, so it worked out well.

I'm wondering how much of an income your daughter has- most grad students are quite poor, living off loans and working as graduate assistants of some kind. SLU is expensive- I was lucky and had a full fellowship, which means I was able to live off $10-12k/yr. I'm sure that's not possible now. I'm also leery of the roommate situation because you never know if she will be able to find people she actually wants to live with, who will also be responsible for payments of rent.

How many years long is your daughter's graduate program? Again, just thinking of the resale issue and if it will be worth it for you to purchase vs renting, and if you would hang onto the property after she graduates or not. If you do contact a real estate agent considering all other factors are favorable, I would consider a condo vs a house due to yard maintenace issues. Graduate students will NOT have time or energy to take care of maintaining a yard, or dealing with any repairs that may come up. SLU is in mid-town, not a good area; we had fellow students who were almost car-jacked. I would seek somewhat more outlying areas. (Keep in mind also that St. Louis was recently voted #1 in crime nationwide). The University District was always hip, as is the Central West End, and Clayton, where Washington University is. Now remember, these recommendations date back to how I knew the area in 1996, so they may not apply. Best of luck and let us know what you decide.

I live in St. Louis, and I take issue with the ranking. Looking at the legal boundaries of the CITY of St. Louis, yes, parts of it are really bad. But anyone who lives in St. Louis includes the COUNTY of St. Louis as "St. Louis", which the report does not. IMO, this really skews the results and paints an undeserved portrait of St. Louis.

Morgan Quitno Press publishes the rankings. The president of the company, Scott Morgan, said:

".... he is not surprised to see St. Louis top the list, since it has been among the 10 most dangerous cities for years. Morgan said the study looks at crime only within St. Louis city limits, with a population of about 330,000. It doesn't take into account the suburbs in St. Louis County, which has roughly 980,000 residents. "

Here is a

See where it says "St. Louis City", and the little line pointing to the small light blue area? THAT is what is ranked. See the large darker blue area around it, that says "St. Louis"? That is the "county", which is not included as part of St. Louis, even though it is very much "St. Louis".

Re: drcindy's comments: The area immediately around SLU is much better than it used to be, and I don't hear of a lot of problems. University City and the Central West End are still quite hip. Clayton (which is part of the County, but immediately adjacent to the legal city limit), is fabulous.....and expensive.

I would rent for a year first, so she could learn the area and make the best choice for a good place to live. If I were going to SLU, I'd look at the areas of Soulard, Tower Grove, South Grand, and Lafayette Square. These are all on the good end of transition, with a diverse population and great shops and restaurants.

Personally, I would not live North of SLU (not referring to SLU Med), or in North County in general. North County seems to dominate the news regarding crime. Also note that MODOT (Missouri Dept. of Transportation) is starting a MAJOR re-do of Interstate 40/64 this year. This is one of our major arteries, and will make traffic miserable if you live/work in certain areas. Here is a link to the plans The area of construction is West of the areas I mentioned, so I don't think your daughter would live there, but you never know what might seem like a great area to her :)

Investment wise, ie, not taking a beating when reselling, there are a number of areas in the city that are going through a resurgence. Some for many years, others just beginning. Businesses and individuals pouring money and heart into down and out neighborhoods. A sizeable influx of new immigrants has pushed these neighborhoods in a positive direction. It's amazing what some of these areas have become, and because of location, demographics and amenities, I do not see a down side. I haven't been able to say that about a lot of areas around here. Some were quickly, (and poorly), "developed" by absentee owners who had no stake in St. Louis other than a quick profit. It seems that most of the people working on the turnaround neighborhoods live there or very nearby.

I still recommend renting first!

Oh, and I don't recommend a condo. Unless the condo is the 'rich' part of town, resale can be difficult. Regarding yard upkeep mentioned earlier, the urban parts of St. Louis, where your daughter will likely live, have really teeny yards, so no worries ;) Not all of them of course, but I would say A LOT of them.

Linked below is an article about St. Louis neighborhoods. It covers the city and county, and gives a good overview of each area. Skip the ones that have 'county' in the name -- too far from SLU. The Inner Ring is also too far. Forget North City, dangerous, and Metro East is Illinois.

Some of the best things about St. Louis are the history and architecture. Homes in the city and surrounding areas range from 1800's three stories to modest one stories that have wonderful Art Deco design. The majority are all brick, and beautiful, or at least trying to be :)

The history of St. Louis is a whole other giant post, which I won't bore you with, but I hope your daughter has time to learn and explore while she is in school.

Here is a link that might be useful: clicky

If it is a dd there are other consideration than market. When I bought a co op in Manhattan years ago I was very fussy about where. I only wanted a corner (not mid block) on a main street so that I would always be surrounede by people when walking home. My main concern was safety. I know nothing about SL but I would want an area that she can feel safe walking home alone or parking her car in. That would be my primary consideratation, then buying or renting

In reading the threads the poster that talked about having no control or knowlege of whether their child was paying the loan would be my concern. It seems to me that if you put her in charge, no matter how responsible she is, you let her have that independence at the risk of your credit. This is different than buying with a spouse where the bills are sent to your house, you see they are paid every month even if DH or DW is technically in charge of them. Here you want her to fly on her own and she may but she also may not and that will damage your credit, better to have control over how the bills are paid

Would be great to have the OP come back and post...

Saphire, with my son, our bank accounts are linked, my name is on his checking account, I can see both of his accounts from my account access but he only has access to his checking not his savings :) I also know his log ins for his car, college loan, bank account; if I need to use his computer to pay anything. If I see his checking has extra money, it's either a flag that something isn't paid or time to transfer some to the savings.

With my step son, my husband knew nothing until recently. He had no clue the loan he cosigned was behind a few payments. If my husband is going to help him financially again, I will insist that SS put hubby on his checking, so that hubby can do something similar to what I do.

The great thing about technology is that most places allow you to check info online, so cosigning for a kid is easier to track.

When I was a student, I wish I had been able to buy a house or a condo. The student loans are going to cover the mortage, and the student won't need to repay the mortage untill he graduates. And, by having the daughter live there, she will be able to keep an eye on the place more than if you were renting it out to tenants.

Roselvr

If there is no money in the account because dd decided she needed a new bag or step son decided to go out with the guys and blew it, then what? I think there are enough ways for them to build credit without risking mine, I would sooner give them money outright but my kids are still little, a $20 is a big deal

roselvr - with all due respect, what is this teaching your son since you're paying all his bills? To me, it sounds like it's teaching him that someone else will take care of something that requires alot of responsibility.

My parents cosigned for my condo when I was in residency. They did not help with the loan payments. They just made the loan possible since my income alone was not enough to qualify for the loan. I had a roomate to help with the mortgage which was the intention from the beginning. I really appreciated the help. The condo has turned out to be one of my best investments ever. I put the downpayment from some money that I had saved.

If your daughter is in a graduate school and you have a good relationship with your daughter, I am sure she is very responsible.

Good luck. I am sure she will really appreciate it.

This is my opinion.... If your daughter is in a demanding graduate program, the house upkeep will be too much for her. I suggest a condo. During my residency, I did not even have time to pay my bills. Mowing the grass would not have happend on a regular basis.

saphire - If there is no money in the account because dd decided she needed a new bag or step son decided to go out with the guys and blew it, then what? I think there are enough ways for them to build credit without risking mine, I would sooner give them money outright but my kids are still little, a $20 is a big deal

My father helped me out at times. He knew I was good for working the money off. With my son, I made the decision because of what his "father" did to him. It's a long story & I don't want to post about it here. My son was down in the dumps after what his SD did to him & since my son had a decent job, could afford to pay the loan but didn't qualify on his own. He's a good kid that played by my rules.

Would I do this for my daughter? I don't know. She's a totally different kind of kid but too young for her not to change & get responsible.

sparksals with all due respect, what is this teaching your son since you're paying all his bills? To me, it sounds like it's teaching him that someone else will take care of something that requires alot of responsibility.

I don't see that I said I paid his bills. I said that if I needed to I could because of the way the accounts were set up. There were times my son worked 7 days a week from 7am until 11pm, so yeah, I made the motion online to pay from his checking account. There was another time during my dad's cancer illness and after his death where my son was too depressed; being a mother to him and helping him out during that hard time was the least I could do. If I did it myself 3 times in over 2 years I don't think that was too bad. I stood over him a few times also when he was too tired to do anything after a long day / week. He learned that he had to pay it because I wasn't going to.