<prompt> Human: I find myself in a serious dilemma. My wife and I were finally able to buy a home in the crazy housing market in CO. We purchased the home at the end of April and got a decent interest rate. We used QL and bought with a VA loan. Last week, my wife asked me for a divorce and, with all my might, I have tried to stop it from happening but it seems hope is lost. It is very unfortunate but Im moving forward and looking at the situation objectively to so I can put this behind me. She isnt interested in getting a lawyer and neither am I since we simply cannot afford it and we plan on cooperating as much as we can to make sure this goes smooth. We both love the home we bought and both want to stay in the area. She told me that if I didnt want the house that we cosigned a VA loan on, she would try to keep it. When I said that I DO want to keep it, she put up no contest and said thats fine. I really do want to keep this home since its in a great location and the home is beautiful. We didnt overextend our selves at all with the home purchase with a purchase price of 279k and a monthly payment of 1344.00 but we did have to cosign to get approved for the home but we were well under our pre-approved amount which was approximately 345k. We have the exact same pay since we are both federal employees and are currently GS-7s with Denver locality pay. In September I get a bump to GS-9. So, how do I keep the house? She says she wants to be out of the home by September so this will come before the pay raise is effective so Im assuming I still cannot qualify for refinancing by this date since I couldnt qualify by myself to purchase the home. We have no other assets to speak of other than a Jeep that we have equity in but has an outstanding balance of 17k 340month. We also have a personal loan that we used to consolidate debt and get a better interest rate which is about 8k 230month. The only other thing I have is a student loan that is a 70month payment and I dont know the current balance but I know it started around 7k and Ive been paying for over 2 years I also cannot currently remember my login info. My gross pay after my grade bump will be 52,642 and it seems like I should be able to afford the payment we currently have 1344180 for HOA with this income. First off, is refinancing my only option to get my STBX off the loan? Am I crazy to think I can afford this house on my pay rent here is just as bad for a one bedroom unfortunately? If I cant qualify by September for a refinance can I consider a parent cosigner or is this even an option. Ive done basic research and have a call scheduled with QL and another lender that I hope to talk this through with but I also know this sub is a great resource. Im thinking that you may be able to give me the right questions to ask the lenders and possibly have another direction I can go. Please and thank you for help here. We were doing our best to recover from being significantly in debt form college and being under employed for quite some time and this was a big win to purchase our first home. Im already losing a wife I love dearly, I dont want to lose my home too. If theres any other info that would be valuable, please ask.  <response>: Its pretty typical for divorce agreements to specify that refinancing has to be done within some reasonable time frame like a year, not the instant you are divorced. As long as youre trustworthy with money its to her advantage to let you do this, since if you have to sell so soon after youve bought it youll probably lose money maybe not on the purchase price but after closing costs, realtor commissions, etc. Getting financing for a 279K house on a gross income of 52K with other debt owed is going to be a stretch. Can you get a housemate for a year or so? It probably wont help you on the refinance per se, but it will help you pay down other debt and get your debt-to-income ratio down. If one of your parents is willing to cosign that will help too. 