chris23

I have a question for anyone who has experience or knowledge in this area.

What are the minimum requirements for a mortgage in the states?

We would be arriving with my wife having got a decent credit rating in the US but hasn't been living there for 5 years (has now filed last 3 years tax returns), I will be going with no credit history.

Obviously we will be getting work as soon as possible but my industry is mainly freelance based so it might take a little longer to gain clients etc. My wife will more than likely be starting a full time job ideally soon after we arrive. We have a plan to stay with family as long as we can but I wanted to ask what the minimum requirements are.

When we got our mortgage here in the UK our mortgage provider worked with 1 year of accounts and the previous year self assessment, and my wife only needed 3 months pay slips.

We will probably have at least 30% deposit for the price of house we are looking at.

thanks y'all

Pulaski

20% down payment is considered "standard", obviously more is better. With a job, decent income, and a 30% DP, getting a mortgage shouldn't be too much of a problem for you.

PetiteFrancaise seems to have a contact at Wells Fargo who specializes in mortgages for expats and new immigrants, so maybe she"ll be along to offer her help and advice.

tom169

I'd appreciate this info as well please as I bank there and looking to buy a house in the next few months.

mrken30

I used a local mortgage broken and bought a house within 9 months of moving here as a new immigrant without any issues. I just provided pay stubbs and previous employment records. They were more concerned what industry I was in and how long I had been employed in that occupation. That was several years ago though.

GeoffM

If you go FHA then the minimum is 3.5% but you'll be charged a hefty premium for the privilege. Far more strict about sources of income - for example, we had to trace money coming from the UK along each step of the process. Not helped by a question from the "experts" asking why the GBP figure was different from the USD figure

Let's hope she's better than my WF experiences. First time we applied for pre approval, brought all the paperwork, promised turnaround in a day or two. A month later they eventually said "ok, we'll do a pre-approval but can you send us X first please?" (X being the paperwork we already supplied). In that time we'd already bought a house.

Second occasion very recently was selling that house and the buyer's bank (WF) actually managing to LOSE the entire paperwork. Both parties had to sign everything all over again. Thank goodness for e-sign as by this time there were four locations involved in the process over a 200 mile span. Then the escrow people messed up the dates so we signed more papers... yet... again...

Pulaski

Paperwork? Our mortgage with WF was 2012 and the entire process was electronic - the first paper of any sort that we saw was the stack of paper at the lawyers office for the closing.

All questions and requests for more info were e-mailed, and I could turn them around in an hour or two. All documents were signed electronically, in PDFs, so both Mrs P and I could sign and return them, again, in an hour or so despite us working ten miles apart.

chris23

Thanks for all the replies.

Anyone experienced it being self employed? I figure going there with no credit report, and being self employed may cause issues.

Do they offer short term deals so we could maybe get a mortgage but stung on the rate due to circumstances, then remortgage after a couple more years once i've got a couple years returns done and more established?

Cheers

GeoffM

W2s, bank statements, copies of greencards and suchlike.

You're forgetting I am pointing out how incompetent two branches(/individuals) were at WF - and that probably includes ability to do things in the modern age.

Noorah101

Being self-employed AND new to the USA will probably work against you. Will your USC spouse have a decent income fairly quickly once in the USA? That could help.

Rene

mrken30

I had similar experiences, but I uploaded my documents electronically. Also the fact I ended up dealing with 3 to 4 different people didn't help. Eventually got my HELOC after 3 months. They took two months to schedule an appraiser.
The people I dealt with did not seem very organized and the staff not very experienced.

chris23

I would like to think so Noorah but no guarantees obviously, ideally her job would have benefits attached so we have healthcare from the outset. (do i remember reading about having to have health insurance before I can enter the US?)

Hopefully we can look into that when we get there as we will be staying with family until we are settled and ready to buy.

GeoffM

There is usually a waiting period before you actually get the insurance. In the wife's current case it starts on the 1st of the month following a full month of employment.

I got a mortgage after 2 years in the US - me self employed, her employed. Again, FHA so miore stringent, but IIRC I had to supply 6 months of bank statements showing business income, whereas she just had to show 3 payslips (or 3 months, paid fortnightly, I forget). Many people suggest renting before buying so you know whether you like the area before committing.

Noorah101

No, you do not NEED to have health insurance prior to entering the USA, and in fact would be difficult to get prior to entering. Your visa is not contingent on having health care. It's recommended to get health insurance ASAP after entering, though.

Rene

petitefrancaise

Thanks to Pulaski for pinging me on this.

To the OP I can send you my contacts details via pm - a few other posters that I've sent to this team have got mortgages based on UK financial information. They can't ask for UK credit history stuff so they ask for 1 or 2 years worth of bank statements, tax statements, bills etc. Nothing too onerous and stuff you've probably got around. Off the top of my head I think everyone else has had full time jobs in the US but one couple got their mortgage before even moving here. So I think it's definitely worth contacting them and having a chat at least.

Tom169 I'll send the contact to you too.

GeoffM, they did mess us about a bit right at closing - they told us that they had underestimated the amount of money we would need at closing. This was a major PITA because we had to get from France in May and what with time differences, bank holidays every sodding week and french regulations about transferring over 10k euros it took over a week and of course you have to document where the money came from etc all over again. (Sale of french house so show sale documents and so on).

I got my house at a very good interest rate on the mortgage so that's what counts I guess.

mrken30

I found out today that PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) will no longer be tax deductible from 2017. Also the size of conforming loans has gone up to $424,000 from $417,000.