The waiting period is real, but the number is twelve months, and it only applies if you need that mortgage excluded from your own ratios. To exclude the relative's mortgage from your debt-to-income ratio, you need twelve months of proof that they made every payment themselves: canceled checks or bank statements showing the payments came from an account you are not on, with no late payments. Six months does not do it. The flip side matters just as much. If you can qualify for your own home while still counting that mortgage in your ratios, there is no waiting period at all. You could buy two days later. The clock only exists if you need the debt excluded to make your numbers work. One broader warning we both feel strongly about: never come off title on a property while staying on the mortgage. That leaves you with the liability for the loan and none of the ownership rights, the worst of both worlds. We have seen clients get burned exactly this way after a breakup: still legally on the loan for a home they no longer owned, payments going unpaid, no recourse. Get the documentation right, and if anyone asks you to sign off title while leaving you on the note, stop and get advice first.