Patty2

Hi to all expats from the snowy UK!
We're moving to San Antonio, TX in January and after looking at house prices it would make sense for us to buy rather than rent, but we're not sure if it would be possible.
My husband has a J1 visa and has a new job starting just after we arrive, but we have no US credit history.
Has anyone managed to get a mortgage in a similar situation to ours? I'd really appreciate any tips/advice. Thanks in advance

fatbrit

Your chance of getting a mortgage rises with how much you are putting down. Less than 25% down and I'd say the chance was nothing given the current climate, your non-immigrant status and lack of credit history. Put 50 percent on the table on a solid property and you'll find something, even if it is private investor money at a higher rate.

You have a lot to learn -- US loans are not UK ones. Start here: http://www.mtgprofessor.com

thinbrit

Unless you are dead set on buying a place, you may be wise to rent for at least 12 months. Check out the area, including commute problems, school districts, crime, amenities etc.
Buy in haste, repent at leisure

Bob

especially being on a J1, bit limiting that and flogging a house is more expensive here.

Jerseygirl

I second that. So glad we didn't buy any of the houses we looked at when we first arrived.

ChocolateBabz

We rented for six months while getting a house built in a new community and sorting out the mortgage and it took almost that long to get the mortgage sorted. We eventually went with Bank of America - we were putting down a 65% deposit but still had to jump through lots of hoops to get it done. If you search for some of my previous posts you will see a list of documentation we had to supply.

Patty2

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I realise we have a lot to look at and think about. No doubt we'll be renting somewhere for at least 6-12 months first, but we hate the thought of paying off other people's mortgages with our savings when it could be put to better use We just didn't know if it was something worth pursuing or not (even in a year or so's time).

Thanks fatbrit for that website link, I'll pass it to the hubby to take a look at.

Bob

Don't look at it that way, but as a way to save money....your saving a fortune in house insurance, also in property taxes and all the other utilities that a home owner is responsible for, water/sewage, upkeep of walkway, clearing snow etc.

meauxna

I have to agree with Bob.. real estate is a longer term investment, and mortgages have costs that can take a few years or more to recoup. If it's a short J-1 exchange, a purchase might not be in your best interest anyway (unless you can pick up a real bargain here now, and afford to hold it for the eventual market return?).

Happy moving!

MsElui

i was frustrated with how long it took to buy a home - for us it was just over a year as we ended up building one for ourselves - and had 2 rental houses in the meantime. However- renting gave me a whole different perspective on the houses we saw - and we made a lot of very different choices to what we made when starting to look to buy. For instance - the very first house we saw in Ohio was a 5 way split. We had never heard of that concept before and thought it was the stupidest idea ever - but after searching for months and seeing a whole load of different types of houses - we ended up chosing to build a 5 way split and love it. Also have had many many compliments on how useful the layout is.

We also ended up in a slightly different area than we envisaged when we arrived - but again - it is far far better for us in nearly every way than i had realised upon arrival - but it took a good 6 months of driving around on or normal day to day travels and seeing what we did the most, where we went the most and what we liked the most to refine our choice. We also understood far more at that point about the school system so could factor that into our decision etc.

so as painful as renting is - it pays dividends in the end.

Also allowed us to build up the beginnings of a credit score and to be able to give american landlords as rental references etc - and we STILL had to jump through stupid amounts of hoops to get the mortgage.

Toontje

In San Antonio, TX??????????????????????

Bob

well yeah, there is that