SockToy

I am currently an HSBC premier customer and should by rights be super pleased. But omg. They have failed to get anything right , at every stage. Wrong mortgage product. Wrong amounts. Wrong salary. Wrong calculations for debt in debt to income ratio. I have no faith at all they're ever going to get anything right, and they'll want to hold onto 100k of deposits for the pleasure. Ick. Though no broker means we save something there.

We're moving to New Jersey, and HSBC seem to be doing crazy things with the debt to income calculator - like calculating using 6% despite a 30 year fix rate of 3.75% - which massively impacts our affordability.

Does anyone have any recommended mortgage providers in the NJ area or nationwide, that are used to relo's and can work with an international credit reference?

Tearing my hair out here,

cheers :P

Matt & Laura

Pulaski

Try Wells Fargo. They are often recommended here on BE as being expat friendly. They also have a heavy presence in NJ, and currently about one third of the US mortgage market, so they must be doing something right!

SockToy

Thanks - filled out on their website today. We'll see how it goes.

Pulaski

You might do better to go into a branch because you are an atypical mortgage applicant. WF apparently has some specialists who can give 1:1 service to recent immigrants.

petitefrancaise

I have contact details for WF ex-pat mortgages. They can look at your finances from outside the US thereby obviating the need for a US credit score/history. PM me if you want the details.
We used them and got a great deal.

Ash UK/US

I feel your pain... we are going through the mortgage process (selling our current house and purchasing a new house) the bank is really pissing us off... we qualified for $60,000 more than we asked for, my husband has bank with them over 20 years (including our last mortgage)... you would think it should be straight forward and easy.... but nooooo!

petitefrancaise

This is a US mortgage?

They ask for a great deal more information these days - and they want to see where every cent of the deposit has come from (ie not from a credit card or loan!).

I was reading the other day that Wells Fargo are offering mortgages with a 3% deposit. Will they never learn?

Pulaski

That's not exactly true. It can be a loan, it just can't be an unsecured loan. In other words, you can take a second mortgage (commonly known in the US as a HELOC) on one house to use for the deposit on another. IIRC HELOCs are not allowed in Texas. They've been doing five percent for at least four years.

Ash UK/US

Yes this is a US mortgage... We are using the proceeds from the sale of our current house as deposit on the new one (approx 40% of the new house value).

sir_eccles

Won't those be FHA mortgages? They usually have extra restrictions on them like extra mortgage insurance is needed.

thinbrit

We used an online broker ( Mortgage Rates | Home Purchase Loans & Refinance | Lenderfi - Home ) to shop around on our behalf.

This was 3 or 4 years ago, but they found us a 15 year 2.75% refi

mrken30

Wells Fargo has taken 2 months so far on a helc and still hasn't got to the appraisal stage. I was closed on a mortgage with Provident within 5 weeks. My other HELOC only took 4 weeks.

The only reason I took out the latest HELOC with Wells was because they cap the rate to 2% annual increase or 7% increase from initial rate.

Worst customer service ever.

Pulaski

Are you saying you haven't heard from them for two months, or have there been lots of questions? ..... Were the other HELOCs recent? - the rules and regulations, and the work required for loans and mortgages has increased massively in recent years.

mrken30

The other HELOC was last year. I have had to chase them every week, all they kept saying was they were waiting on the underwriter. They have not given a reason why it has taken so long and just thanked me for being patient. They initially told me it would be completed in 6 weeks. I uploaded all the paperwork within a week of starting the process. The only difference is that this HELOC is on my primary and the other HELOC was on a rental property

mrken30

There are now 0% down mortgages

Zero Down Home Loans - 100% Mortgage, No Money Bad Credit Lenders

I am waiting for the market to crash again. I really hope they never learn.