在美国67%的人拥有自己的居所。 安居乐业的观念渗透华人之心。 华人拥有房产的比率要比平均数高三个百分点。 那种居无定所， 处处无家处处家的洒脱多少让人有找不到家的感觉。 一般而言， 要想拥有一片自己的土地与天空就需要贷款。 虽然这几年不时听说来自大陆或港台的华人对售价五六十万，甚至一百多万美元的房子一次性现金付清， 但所占的比例极小。 绝大多数购房者还是需要贷款。

在今后的短文中，本人将陆续提供业务中的一些实例与网友共同探讨人生。

Just the other day, I had a lively discussion with one of my clients who is buying a property with his girlfriend.  Due to various circumstances, we have determined that it is in their best interests to apply for the loan in only his name.  He was told by his attorney that he want's to have have his girlfriend the deed but not the mortgage.

One thing I realized as a result of this discussion was that few people truly understand the inner workings of purchasing and financing a home.  So, I thought I would take a few lines to define and explain the three primary documents in a real estate transaction and their purpose.

The first document is called a deed.  This is the document that is signed at a the closing of a real estate transaction that conveys, or delivers, ownership rights from the current owners to the new owners.  This document serves as proof that the ownership rights have transfered from one set of parties to another and is typically recorded in the local registry of deeds.  By doing a little on-line research, you can locate all the recorded deeds in the Registry's files and learn who all the previous owners of you property are.

The second document is a Note.  It is essentially the agreement between the lender and the buyer/borrower which documents how much money is going to be borrowed, at what rate, for what length of time and any other terms that are appropriate.  In the case of my client, this is actually the document that we do not want his wife to be a part of.  It is the legal document that obligates the parties to perform, or payback the loan according the ageed upon terms.  It is also the document that establishes the debt and who is responsible to pay back the debt.  Therefore, the lender only wants well qualified borrowers as parties to this agreement.  Basically, when you submit a loan application, you are applying to be a party to this document.

The final document is called a Mortgage.  Despite the common expression of applying for a mortgage you are really applying for a Note.  The mortgage is your agreement to give-up your ownership rights and allow the lender to foreclose, or sell, the property to recover their money if you do not make the promised payments.  It is called a security document and actually has value that is used to collateralize, or back up, your loan.  Most, if not all lenders will require that all new owners on the deed also sign the mortgage acknowleding their agreement to give up their ownership rights in the event of foreclosure.  This way, no one with ownership rights can impede the foreclosure process.

To make a long explanation slightly less long.  The deed documents ownership rights.  The note is the agreement to lend and payback some amount of money.  And, the mortgage, is the owners agreement to give up their rights to the property, should then not perform according to the terms of the note.

So, getting back to my clients, although I am not a lawyer and not qualified to give legal advice, I suggested that they consider having both parties on the deed so their rights/interests as owners are established and protected.  If they were married in Massachusetts, then this would not be as big of an issue as husbands and wives have joint interests in real property regardless of the deed.  We would apply for the loan in just his name and he would sign the note as an individual.  Then, at the closing both of them would be required to sign the mortgage.  In this way all the parties interests are protected and the lender is willing to make the loan.