17 percent of couples buying homes are unmarried - what they need to know

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - The biggest decision that Adam Peploski and his fiancée Melanie Seymour have to make in their new home is paint color.
 
But the unmarried couple in Farmington Hills had a bigger question they just answered before closing. Not being married, should they wait or jump in and buy?

FOX 2: "Why do this now? Why not wait until you get married?"

"Why not?" said Adam.

Adam and Melanie don't have a doubt about their future together. 

"It's a commitment, it's a requirement. You have to have faith in each other to say, I believe in you," said Peploski. 

They're not alone.  Real estate experts say 17 percent of new homeowners are unmarried couples. All of which leads realtors to have some tough talk, including Adam's own agent.  

"I know you guys are engaged and are buying the property together and I'm not trying to start a fight here, but if something happened to you, what would you want to happen to your interest in the house?" said Rob Scalicy, broker owner of RE/MAX Metropolitan. "Do you want to go to your partner? Or do you want to go to your mom, dad, brother, sister, cousin?

"Most couples will say no, of course, I want him or her to have it."

But sometimes, they don't. Jeanette Schneider, executive VP at RE/MAX says these couples have to think things through. 

"You're going to have that joint tenancy with the rights of survivorship," said Jeanette Schneider, Executive VP at RE/MAX. "Because otherwise if something happens to the other party, you may not automatically get assets it might go to their heirs. So the title, the legal side of it, you really have to get correct."  

She says if you're not married, see an attorney. 

"Do you want them to weigh in on this almost like a pre-nup for the situation in case something happens," she said. "In case the relationship does not stand the test of time, if there's a health issue, a job transfer, something that causes something to shift. You want to make sure you talk to all of this through and have an exit strategy before you go in."

Because once you ink that title, it can't be undone and Adam says the same of their love.  They are eight months away from tying the knot. 

“I put my condo up for sale, she put her house up for sale and it's moving very quickly ever since," he said. "And we are very excited."