Q. My fiance has very poor credit, including a credit card balance that was written off. Is there a way to include his income on a mortgage application, but not his credit? Or should we have our parents cosign?

A. Your fiance's income cannot be counted on the mortgage application without including his credit score. And if your income is too low to justify the purchase of a home, it is unlikely that a cosigner would help.

Your fiance needs to work on repairing his credit score. With your marriage eight or nine months away, he has time. If he follows Interest.com's 6 smart moves to improve your credit score, he should be able to raise his score substantially.

If necessary, you could have a parent cosign, but that sometimes puts stress on the parent-child relationship. In addition to the cosigners being 100% responsible for the mortgage payments should you default, they have that debt on their credit report. Should they want to make a large purchase, it could be a stumbling block. And the cosigner's name will remain on the mortgage until you refinance. You can't just have it taken off.

We would like to see the two of you purchase the home on your own, even if it takes a little longer than expected for your fiance to raise his score.