Phil999

Hi Everyone

I have been told that with an FHA mortgage i only need to put down 5% this would be perfect for me. However i see on the FHA website it asks for 2 years of W2's. I have only been in the US 8 months.

I know i have credit as i just got a AT&T iphone contract with no issues or deposit.

What are my chances of an FHA mortgage? I would be looking for around 350k with about 20k to put down..

Phil

Bob

Depends on the state I think, different areas have different sums involved.

There was a fairly decent thread on this at the beginning of the year I think, you might have some luck with more info if you can find it.

Also, being here only 8 months, your credit history probably really isn't worth all that much. It's the variety of history that's what is most helpful, but for a mortgage score does come into play, but without much history, it'll still be a struggle. It should improve a lot more once you get 12 months worth of history.

Bink

I got an FHA loan with about 18 months credit history and a previous UK mortgage. What area are you looking at? Different States have different FHA limits. I maxed it out and put the rest down in cash, but it was the only type of mortgage I could have got with less than 2 years credit history.

I had to provide a copy of my UK mortgage though and also my UK credit history also showing the mortgage.

Phil999

I am looking at 350k in CA.

Michael

It depends on your county but the big cities go up to about $750K. Check your county in the following link.

https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicost1.cfm

Bink

EDIT: I did have to supply 2 years worth of W2s though.

TimNiceBut

Actually FHA is usually around 3.5% down. You can get conventional loans (that tend to work out a little cheaper) for 5% down, at least up here.

We just went through the same thing, 2 years of my W-2s wasn't enough for the local credit union, I had to wait until I was with my current employer for 2 years.

The underwriting criteria have changed massively here in the last 4-5 years, during the boom years anybody who had had a pulse in the previous six months could get a loan; These days they are much more stringent.

I'd talk to a couple of local credit unions and see what they have to say.

RICH

I think you need to be a PR for an FHA loan.
You will not get the headline lowest interest rates credit history or not.
Also with small down payment in this market it will likely be a long time before you build any equity.

TimNiceBut

I don't think they asked me for my residency status here when we talked to the credit union. Of course they might always check later on, but we're not going for an FHA loan anyway.

Michael

FHA are 100% government guaranteed mortgages with mortgage insurance where conventional mortgages with less than 20% down require PMI but only cover the first 20% default on the mortgage. Therefore when a bank offers FHA mortgages, there is no risk so one should shop around for the best rate which should be better than conventional mortgages with less than 20% down.

fatbrit

You may as well tell them up front. Otherwise, the fat lady won't sing on closing day while they're deciding how much to bump the rate up.

TimNiceBut

Any excuse will do, I know...

Actually I *am* a PR so that shouldn't be an issue.

fatbrit

That should be fine. Make sure you take your GC to the closing.

Brat1

I'm not a permanent resident and we got an FHA loan with only one year's tax return. As for taking time to build up equity, if you pay extra each month, or one extra mortgage payment a year, apparently it cuts your length of the debt by around a third, which I assume, will allow you to get rid of the mortgage insurance quicker. I think we pay around $258 a month on mortgage insurance.

Bink

Yes we pay something similar. I'd forgotten some of the details of my application for which you've just reminded me. I did submit 2 years of tax returns but only 1 years W2 as that's all I had (I am actually a USC despite having lived in the UK nearly all my life so I backfiled my tax returns but didn't have a W2 for the previous year as I was in the UK still then).