House buying
 

Can you purchase a home, if you are NOT yet a U.S resident?
but have a alien registration number!

My understanding is it is possible to buy a home if you don't have permanent residence status. We have been looking and our real estate broker didn't seem to think there would be any problems. We have a friend who is on a H1B visa and he had no problems buying. Biggest problem appears to be the financing, as lenders are more wary of those without a green card.

House Buying
 

No problem buying in NY on an H1-B. Financing was through www.cendantmortgage.com, they don't care provided you have the income to support your application.

Dan.

Thanks for your reply Vicky

My wife is a USC, but I am not a permenant resident (thanks to the INS for closing my file, the reason being they had sent paperwork to my old address)...

anyways, our mortgage lender seems to be a bit uncertain because I am not yet a resident, that is why I am starting to worry! We really want to catch the housing market whilst the mortgage rates are so low, I guess I will have to wait and see.

Anyone out there recommend any lenders in a situation like this???

Re: House Buying
 

Dan
Thanks for the info, I will look into it.

You can get financing even on a H-1B, though they tend to look for a bigger deposit. However, given the way the market is, I think lender's are more keen to listen to what you have to say today vs a year ago.

If you wife is a USC shouldn't be any problem.

Happy house hunting.

Southcoast, go to a Mortgage broker or direct to a bank & ask them. You may need to put down deposit of 25% + (Closing costs 5% of Purchase price, can be more or less). 25% minimum you can get no income verification mortgage.
Which state are you looking to buy in, that will affect your choice of banks.
Non residents & various types of residents get loans all the time.
Reg. Frank R.

We puchased a home within 5 weeks of moving to the states. They will require your bank records from UK and statements of any properties, assets etc. We put no money down so we financed the whole lot. We did not have a problem at all.
We went through a mortgage broker and had a preapproved letter before we even started looking.

Hi all,

Seems everyone has a different story to tell.

I simply cannot afford to put 25% down on a house, My wife and I are first time buyers, I have no assets, no house to sell but we have saved enough for a small percentage down.

I am currently in Dallas Texas, and would be greatful if there are any people out there that was in a similar situation that might know a mortgage lender or two that I could contact.

Thanks everyone for there personal experiences.

Suebo, I am amazed at your story, but am glad to hear it. BTW what price range are we talking about? Also would you mind sharing the name of your mortgage company? Reason I ask is if we stay on past a year we would like to buy. However prices in San Diego are $500,000+ so the smaller deposit we can put down the better. Did you have a lot of assets outside the US?

One thing my real estate agent did tell me was when you make the initial call say you are looking at putting down a 20% deposit and then backtrack from there as you may be able to get them down to a 5% deposit.

I tell you, buying real estate is not easy in the US as there are so many different terms etc.

Vicky,

$500,000 for a house double WOW...

There is a saying in Texas "you know when you live in Cal, its when you earn a quater of a million per year, but can't afford a house"...

20% down on a half a mill, thats err......mega bucks.

Vicky,
I PM'd you, don't want to put all my financial details on line :)

Anyone looking to pay down less then 20% deposit. You will have to pay PMI mortgage insurance. This is a monthly payment & can go on for many years, until your equity reaches 20% of the value of the property.

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
In the event that you do not have a 20 percent down payment, lenders will allow a smaller down payment - as low as 2 percent in some cases. With the smaller down payment loans, however, borrowers are usually required to carry private mortgage insurance. Private mortgage insurance payments are normally made annual or monthly.

Remember 50 states = 50 little countries, with lots of rules pertinent only to that state.
Reg. Frank R.

Yep, $500,000 and that is not going to buy anything stunning. I am talking about a 3 bedroom house with one lounge area, with a 15 foot back yard in a gated community where the houses sit on top of each other. There are cheaper areas in San Diego, however the freeway traffic is so bad here you would spend hours commuting each day if you live too far away.

I saw on a financial show that you should figure for each $100,000 your borrow, your monthly repayment will be $800 as that should cover not only the interest rate, but the PMI etc.

We have calculated we can have a loan of $400,000 and after the tax break for mortgage interest we will break even on what we are paying for rent.

California is crazy for housing etc. and wages are probably better than a lot of other areas in the US but not enough to make up for the housing costs.

BTW Southcoast, don't we all have $100,000 sitting in the bank just waiting to find the right house, LOL.

Sue, thank for the PM. It was really helpful.

Half a mill,

that is amazing, I had no idea houses prices are that high in Cal.
how on earth does a average income family survive there?

(by cutting out countless coupon books, I guess)...

Yeah 'I wish I had 100,000 floating around in a bank account'...but dreaming of winning the lotto would be more realistic....(by the way the lotto is upto $36 mill tonight....fingers crossed).