barua

Hi All,
Is it possible to get a mortgage without any credit score in US. As I would have just landed I will not have any credit score.
Will they consider my UK credit score and the fact that I own a house here and wish to keep it.
Who are the lenders who consider this please? Any experience anyone?
If the rent i pay is almost the same as monthly mortgage then i'd be better off paying the mortgage with about atleast 5% annual appreciation on the property value?
State: Colorado (Boulder, Louiseville, Lafayette, Broomfield, Longmont, Westminster are some of the areas we are looking at)

petitefrancaise

Yes, it's possible. They'll need a load of information about your financial situation going back 2 years minimum. They cannot access your credit score in the UK so you will need to provide all the paperwork regarding your mortgage/property, salary, bank statements, tax statements. You'll also need a fairly hefty deposit. PM me and I'll send you a contact at Wells Fargo.

Whether it's wise to buy straightaway is another matter. What visa do you have? Is it L or H where you have to leave the country if your job finishes?
Selling a house involves $$$ as well (6% realtor fees for Colorado according to Google), you have property tax to pay on top of your mortgage whereas it is included in the cost of renting. You are responsible for the upkeep of your home and Pulaski is right when he says American homes seem to need more maintenance than Uk (or European ones). You also won't know the areas very well and you won't know how much you can trust your realtor either.

You can still get a mortgage based on your non-US financial information even if you've been here a while, so I wouldn't rush to buy. We arrived end of September on L1 visas, the company almost immediately applied for GCs for us (our request) and I started looking at houses in January. I looked at loads and loads over 4 months to get a really good idea of the local market. We started the mortgage application in February and it took a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with all our (french) documents - the mortgage was pre-approved and when we were still on L visas but we didn't actually buy a house until we had our GC's.

I'd advise renting for a few months (especially if you have kids and need to suss out schools) but make sure you sign a shortish lease.

Pulaski

Don't bank on property value appreciation, it doesn't always work like that in the US, prices are more volatile, AND houses are expensive and/or time consuming to maintain. A rule of thumb is that you should budget on spending 2% of the market value of your house, on average, every year to keep it in good condition and marketable for a good price when you want to sell. You can get away with less, but only if you are handy and can do some of the work yourself.

A good part of the cost is that roofs and heating/AC systems do not last long - 15-20 years is typical for a roof, and 10-15 years for a heating system, and they both are likley to cost $10,000-$20,000 to replace, depending on the size of the house, and possibly more in an expensive area such as California or New York. If you buy a cheaper heating/AC system or roof, don't expect it to last as long.

Also you should expect things to fail around the house in a way that you probably haven't experienced in the UK, certainly I and my parents never did. I always seem to be replacing odd bits of the plumbing system or electrical system, and door locks and latches. Painting has become an almost continuous chore, especially outside where, being much further south than the UK, the sun hands out serious punishment. I used to joke that my house isn't just a home, it's a hobby too, but after 13 years owning Pulaski Manor, and with no end in sight, the joke has worn a bit thin.

For the reasons listed above, if you can rent for the same cost as a mortgage, you will actually be getting quite a bargain!

barua

Petitifrancaise, i'll be on L visa and would have to leave at the end of the visa if I don't get Greencard by then.(So i'm not counting more than 2 years of stay for now).
Company has recommended some relocation lenders who's working show that rent and buying is almost the same. However when i work out independently Renting is working out 15% cheaper than buying similar sized property. So I see your point Pulaski.
If i sell within 5 years will attract any capital gain tax or anything like that?

MidAtlantic

Working on a 2 year time frame I would absolutely not buy. You are very unlikely to come out ahead if you have to sell after 2 years.

yellowroom

Absolutely - houses in the US are very different to the UK - depends where you go but in Virginia I thought they were like overgrown garden sheds. Ie wooden frame, poor insulation and security, baking hot in summer, freezing cold in winter. Everything I thought I knew about maintaining houses had to be re-learnt (even down to how the fuse boxes work). I wouldn't want to buy one without having lived in one to see what I liked, what I didn't like, advantages & disadvantages etc before actually buying one.

You also have to consider if your circumstances change (eg company reorganises/lays you off, or you hate it in the US, or something happens within your family/friends circle which means you want to return home) then you could end up back in the UK paying a US mortgage and trying to sell remotely and fast.

It depends on your risk tolerance of course, but I would pay attention to what Pulaski said - if you pick the wrong property, then it could be a nightmare.

Rete

Personally, for an anticipated two year stay or even 5 years if you can get it stretched that far, I would not buy. The additional costs you incur just to get the mortgage, attorney fees for closing on the property, and other hidden costs involved IMO is not worth buying something instead of renting for a few years.

If you are looking at renting a house instead of an apartment or a townhouse apartment, have you looked at who would be responsible for the costs for snow removal. Idaho gets a fair amount of that white stuff and paying to have the driveway plowed during the winter months can cost a pretty penny. If you rent, that responsibility should fall to the home owner, not the renter. It would be another expense that you, as the homeowner, would most certainly be responsible for.