Impact on Credit Worthiness (Getting A Loan with a Co-signer vs without)
It doesn't matter to the credit agencies if there is a co-signer or not. However, your family member will need to take into consideration if they are willing to be responsible for the loan in the event you are unable to make payments. Being a co-signer means they are agreeing to pay the loan amount. It will also impact their credit score/report, either improve it if all goes well, or destroy it if neither one of you are able to pay the loan. So to you, assuming you can pay all the payments and not default, it makes no difference. But to the co-signer, it could create a huge impact.  https://www.thebalance.com/does-co-signing-affect-credit-315368
"I guess I don't understand how you figure that taking out a car loan for $20k will result in adding $20k in equity.  A car loan is a liability, not an asset like your $100k in cash.  Besides, you don't get a dollar-for-dollar consideration when figuring a car's value against the loan it is encumbered by.  In other words, the car is only worth what someone's willing to pay for it, not what your loan amount on it is. Remember that taking on a loan will increase your debt-to-income ratio, which is always a factor when trying to obtain a mortgage.  At the same time, taking on new debt just prior to shopping for a mortgage could make it more difficult to find a lender.  Every time a credit report (hard inquiry) is run on you, it temporarily impacts your credit score.  The only exception to this rule is when it comes to mortgages.  In the U.S., the way it works is that once you start shopping for a mortgage with lenders, for the next 30 days, additional inquiries into your credit report for purposes of mortgage funding do not count against your credit score, so it's a ""freebie"" in a way.  You can't use this to shop for any other kind of credit, but the purpose is to allow you a chance to shop for the best mortgage rate you can get without adversely impacting your credit. In the end, my advice is to stop looking at how much house you can buy, and instead focus on a house with payments you can live with and afford.  Trying to buy the most house based on what someone's willing to lend you leaves no room in the near-term for being able to borrow if the property has some repair needs, you want to furnish/upgrade it, or for any other unanticipated need which may arise that requires credit.  Don't paint yourself into a corner.  Just because you can borrow big doesn't mean you should borrow big. I hope this helps. Good luck!" Is the parent company's common stock public?   If not, then there will be absolutely no pressure from everyone liquidating at the same time. If so, consider the average daily volume of transactions in the parent company's stock.  Is it much greater than the volume your 10k co-workers will have to liquidate?   If so, I wouldn't expect much of an impact from all liquidating at once. Any other situation, you are probably right to be a bit worried about simultaneous liquidation.   If this was my case, I'd probably submit a limit sell order so as to try and pick out a high for the timing of my liquidation, and lower my limit vs fair value as it got closer to the expiration of your ability to hold the parent company stock. Co-signing is not the same as owning. If your elderly lady didn't make any payments on the loan, and isn't on the ownership of the car, and there was no agreement that you would pay her anything, then you do not owe either her or her daughter any money. Also the loan is not affecting the daughter's credit, and the mother's credit is irrelevant (since she is dead). However you should be aware that the finance company will want to know about the demise of the mother, since they can no longer make a claim against her if you default. I would start by approaching the loan company, telling them about the mother's death, and asking to refinance in your name only. If you've really been keeping up the payments well this could be OK with them. If not I would find someone else who is prepared to co-sign a new loan with you, and still refinance. Then just tell the daughter that the loan her mother co-signed for has been discharged, and there is nothing for her to worry about. Well, it sounds like you have two options: 1) Continue to jointly own the house. 2) Compensate her for her equity and get the title transferred.  I hate to tell you this, but she is entitled to half of the equity regardless of how much she paid into it. That said, she is still on the hook equally for the loan amount, but it won't do you any good if she is not willing to pay. Also, option 2 probably isn't a good deal for your co-signer as she would still be liable for the entire loan loan (just as you are) regardless of the title. "Yes. Because you co-signed the loan, you are responsible for the loan just as much as she was. When you co-sign a loan, you are essentially saying ""I will pay this loan if the other person can't.""" He wasn't wrong that a mortgage would help your credit score, assuming that this was a perfect world and everyone held up their end of the bargain. However, now that he hasn't, you are still legally obligated to pay the loan amount (including his portion of it). As for a lawsuit, it would be hard to prove what he said verbally, however, it doesn't hurt to call a lawyer for a free consultation. "Would it make sense to take a loan from a relative... Other people have pointed this out, but honestly, I'd be very reluctant to answer ""yes"" to this no matter how you completed that sentence. There's always an intangible risk to mixing money and relationships. There's a lot that can go wrong during the duration of the loan, and if it does, the consequences could be a lot greater than just a bad credit score." Either approach will put a strain on your friendship, unless you are willing to treat it as a gift which may or may not be returned rather than a loan. I agree that paying it direct to the dealer (or giving her a check that is made out to the dealer) avoids the risk of the money getting sidetracked.