Woman Tells ‘Ramsey Show’ Her Dad’s Girlfriend, 88, Is ‘Manipulating’ Him Into Buying a $425K Home With Zero Down VA Loan —’He’s Creating a Nightmare’
- Personal Finance
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Romance, apparently, isn’t just alive—it qualifies for a VA loan.
On a recent episode of “The Ramsey Show,” hosts Rachel Cruze and George Kamel took a jaw-dropping call from a woman named Elizabeth. Her 87-year-old father—a widower of seven years—had fallen in love, and the price tag? A $425,000 house.
The plan: use a VA loan with nothing down to buy a second home an hour away, where he could live closer to his 88-year-old girlfriend. She’s renting. She’s reportedly broke. And they’re not getting married. But hey—love conquers equity.
“I think she’s manipulating him,” Elizabeth told the hosts. “Why else would he be buying?”
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Cruze didn’t need long to spot the red flags: “How is he going to afford a $425,000 mortgage?”
Kamel added bluntly, “You told me she’s broke and it doesn’t sound like he’s rolling in money.”
One girlfriend, one sister, two houses—and a whole lot of family tension
Elizabeth said her dad already owns a paid-off home worth around $400,000. But he’s not living there. Instead, he’s been staying with the girlfriend for six months. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s younger sister—who recently lost her own home to foreclosure—moved into the dad’s house without telling anyone.
“He’s not going to kick his daughter out into the street,” Elizabeth said. That’s what triggered the VA loan plan. The problem? He didn’t tell anyone. Not even her—and she has power of attorney and is listed on his financial accounts.
“I’m his executor. I’m on his account. And he promised me face-to-face that he’d tell me before doing anything like this,” she said. “And he didn’t.”
Cruze acknowledged the emotional breach: “That’s hurtful. That’s hard. Even though he’s a grown man.”
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The girlfriend, according to Elizabeth, has no money, no assets, and poor health. “She’s got enough to live on for five years,” Elizabeth said. “That’s not a retirement plan. That’s a countdown.”
Even worse: no one knows whether the girlfriend will be on the loan or deed. “He hasn’t really talked about it,” Elizabeth admitted.
“He’s creating a nightmare for the girl that he loves”
It wasn’t just about money. The real issue was what comes next.
“If he dies a year after they move in, what happens?” Elizabeth asked. “We’re not going to be able to boot her out. If she fails to make the mortgage, then what? I’m sure he’s putting up his current house.”
And the other house? Still occupied by the sister. Kamel laid it out cold: “Most of his estate is that $400,000 paid-off house. And that’s got to be split four ways.”
“If she can’t buy you all out, now you have to evict her,” Cruze added. “And if the girlfriend is still alive and 90… how do you kick out a 90-year-old woman?”
Elizabeth didn’t pretend to have an answer. “I just want him to be happy,” she said. “But this isn’t how you do it.”
Kamel agreed. “He’s creating a nightmare for the girl that he loves.”
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Legal? Yes. Logical? Not even close.
By law, there’s no age limit for a mortgage. But Elizabeth’s father is 87. A $425,000 loan with no down payment doesn’t just stretch the budget—it punts financial reality into the next generation’s lap.
“He shouldn’t be doing this. Period,” Elizabeth said.
Kamel didn’t disagree. But he did offer a solution that might work: a neutral estate attorney. Not to stop the house—just to prepare the legal ground.
“Say, ‘Dad, I can’t stop you from doing this,'” he advised. “‘But we need to put protections in place. I’m your executor. I’ll have to deal with the fallout.'”
“Let’s update the will. Review the beneficiaries. Lock in the estate plan. Because otherwise,” he said, “this is going to explode.”
Kamel kept it grounded: “You can’t stop people from doing dumb things. But you can try to slow him down.”
Cruze summed up the dilemma: “He’s a grown man.”
And that, perhaps, is the hardest part.
Love and mortgages may not come with age limits, but consequences sure do. Whether it’s a second home, a surprise loan, or a late-in-life leap, consulting a financial advisor can help turn emotional decisions into smart ones—before paperwork outlives the romance.
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