Age has nothing to do with anything. Your one thing on your credit will hurt you until it's paid. You need 3 tradelines reporting good for one year to get a mortgage. So your student loan is one. Get 2 small accounts going & pay on them for a year & your credit will be okay (once the negative trade is paid). Not sure what his credit looks like but the same applies (3 trades). Both of you must have been working steady for 2 years to use the income also. You don't say how long you've been working, but worst case you should be able to buy in 2 years. In the mean time keep cancelled checks for rent since lender will want proof you've paid rent on time for a year. A receipt won't work, anyone can write a receipt. Good luck. BTW common law is 7 years together as man and wife- starting at age 18 & only in some states. However, unmarried people can buy homes together with out problems.

What you do is wait. What you do is save money for a good down payment. Work on making your credit better. Whatever is on your credit report is still an issue - even if you paid a defaulted thing - because it is still showing. And your age can be an issue as well - as maybe you don't have a long enough employment history. Or earnings enough to qualify. Whoever was going to co-sign was wise to walk away. With a mortgage - it's not that simple. As anyone who signs for a mortgage is responsible for the mortgage - their credit is being used to qualify and that mortgage goes on that person's credit report as well - and if that person wants to buy a house at some point - credit report shows he already has a mortgage. And anyone who "co-signs" a mortgage is considered co-owner as well. They don't just sign and forget about it. They are just as responsible for the payments, taxes and all that - if you can't make those payments.

So what you do is just wait. You save money for down payment. You get a couple more years of steady employment under your belt. You get a credit card and use it responsibly to build credit. You buy a house on your own without this "co-signer" business. No one in their right mind would "co-sign" a mortgage for someone else. Point is sometimes we can't get what we want - when we want it.

So you get over the idea of doing this right now. You do what it takes to be able to buy a house in 2 to 5 years.

You build credit.

A cosigner on a home loan is a co-owner of the home. You don't want that.

BTW, you are likely not common law. 1. Only 7 states recognize it 2. You don't even refer to the person as your spouse, which is always required.

It is never ever wise to purchase a home with someone to whom you are not legally married. I don't know where you live but in the vast majority of US states, the 'common law' marriage doesn't have much legal standing. It's not enough to 'be' together for 7 years, and if you're only 21 you don't even have those 7 years together.

That aside, it sounds like you'll just have to wait to buy a home until you've built up a good credit score. Personally, I would never ask anyone (except my parents) to co-sign for me because co-signing is a huge risk--it's just too much to ask of anyone. I myself would never co-sign for anyone except my children in a rental situation.

You wait until you actually qualify. If your state recognizes common law marriage and you meet that definition then it is a spouse not a partner. If it is a partner then common law means nothing you are just shacking up together. If you are not married you don't buy together. What if you break up? It happens all the time and you see questions about it here on Yahoo Answers. Unless you are legally married there are little to no protections for you in the law.

You might would want to check with a mortgage loan officer that is experienced enough to know and understand how you are able to create lines of credit with your utility bills, and rent you have paid.

Also you might would want to apply for a FHA mortgage loan.The requirements for a FHA mortgage loan would not be as stringent as applying for a conventional mortgage loan. You might not need a co-signer in applying for a FHA mortgage loan.

Establishing lines of credit using your utility bills and rent would be sufficient enough for you to have the three lines of credit normally required of mortgage guidelines.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.

'FIGHT ON"

Wait until you build some credit. I don't think there is a common law partnership and few states have common law marriage so you might want to actually marry or form a legal partnership before buying a house together.

constriction, huh? try BoA {I crack me up. Think about it.} [Just keep renting. Construction jobs are cyclical.]

K so me and my common law partner have decided we want to buy a house. I don't have perfect credit due to a previous situation that's personal and has been fixed. I only have a student loan currently of which I make regular payments but either way they won't let me co sign so he cannot get the loan. Alone. We can afford the mortgage etc he works in constriction and I do drafting and project management. But basically we've been told that because were 21 we don't have enough credit to get the loan and I've one thing on my credit that's bad but is no longer an issue but still shows. We originally had a cosigner but 3 days before the deal closed the co signer decided not to and we've no one else to co sign that's older then 25 with a long enough credit build up. We don't know what to do? Or how to get a loan of we can.