dbj1000

There's no hard and fast rule about how many lines of credit or for how long - that's just typical BoA bollocks, presenting you with hurdles to jump that may not be necessary.

Talk to other lenders. Talk to a mortgage broker. Do NOT go on the word of BoA, who have been VERY difficult to many immigrants on these boards and elsewhere.

Welsh_girl

Thanks very much. We'll be looking for a mortgage broker tomorrow morning!

Bob

You can have them for lower amounts than that, just check the small print for any penalties for taking the money back early etc.

Getting a mortgage is also a bit of luck. The missus had a customer who only wanted $75K for mortgage and was putting $500K down in cash for a house, he still got denied a mortgage for not enough history...yet they offered someone else $350K when they put 30% down.

chartreuse

Yep - IME, often you end up getting stuffed because you're talking to some muppet who has no idea about expats and just tries to apply the standard "customer was born, grew up in and has never lived further than 20 miles from BFE" procedures. Then fails, gets moody and starts making stuff up. At the opposite end of the scale, you can find folks in little, local, banks who have done no end of foreign mortgages and it all goes like clockwork.

I wouldn't be surprised if the OP's experience with Wells Fargo owed something to that, especially as the AMEX should be reporting a history dating back to when the UK card was opened.

Dougster75

I wish that were the case for us. We have Amex history in UK dated back to 2004 but our credit report only shows history back to June 2009 when we got the US one (using the UK one as history).

Desinflorida

From scratch and thanks to some bits of advice from BE I ended up being pre-approved with 2 different lenders despite at that time not having my intercompany L1 visa, no SSN and still being a UK resident - this is all in 2010. One was a local central Florida small bank - i had to help them check out my UK credit history, through equifax, took several weeks with various questions - had to prove I had the 20% deposit which was a surprise so had to tidy a number of UK ISA' s and near forgotten accounts to get it into one place - they susequently upped the deposit requirement to 25%.
The other lender ironically was Wells Fargo who were much faster with a pre-approval and 'only' wanted 20% down and 4.75% fixed for 30 years. WF was all done on the phone and by email. For various reasons - posted earlier we have ended up renting a much better property than we were able to buy.
None of this was easy though and the deposit requirement is heavy particularly if one is returning to the UK in a few years - foreign exchange risk and housing market risk were too much for us in the end. Fees were also 1% of the loan and various other small print fees were also high, it was a few hundred dollars here, a few there - it added up. In my part of Florida (he says still 10 weeks away from leaving the UK) with local unemployment at 13% and a huge amount of short sales and foreclosures I would advise thinking very hard about buying, perhaps less pain in your neck of the woods. We ended up taking advantage of someone else's market issue. The house we rented had been on the market for 2 years, the asking price had dropped 45% and still they couldnt sell it. Beautiful house, i never thought i would be living somewhere like it. My realtor contacted a few sellers to see if they would consider renting long term and this guy responded - he has the cash to ride out the market and didnt want to 'give' his property away in a depressed market having paid a much higher price for it.
Good luck - perseverance pays off - we found mortgage brokers did not work for us and BOA were a non starter for us. They couldnt even call me back as my UK phone number had too many digits or something for their standard boxes - mad!

chartreuse

How odd. Did you run both card in parallel for a while, or did you close the UK one when you opened the US one?

Mummy in the foothills

Why don't you apply for a CC through the credit union you are with, cheaper and less confusing than the CD thing.
By now if you've been a customer for 9mths they may be willing, a regular CC with a low maximum balance maybe.
We put more than 20% down but only cause we wanted lower payments, no mortgage insurance for the bank or whatever it's called, but we'd been here a long time.

cranston

Amex dated my US history back to the time I opened my UK account. They told me that was their standard practice.

It may be worth a phone call to them

CarlWain74

I was able to get a Secured Credit card with Wells Fargo ($1500) after being here for 2 months, though they fleeced me on the deposit account for a monthly fee!, still negoiating that one.

Undefeckable

BoA were a big waste of time for us too.

Eventually got a mortgage from Wells Fargo after being here for 9 months. (I close on Friday! eek!) If you relocated with work, they have a product specifically tailored for that where your lack of credit doesn't matter.

If you have a green card, try a local credit union - I found them to be a much more 'common sense' approach to banking. I obtained a car loan and secured card through them after being here only 3 months.

Dougster75

Agree- Wells Fargo were very helpful to us but their relocation product apparently is only good for the first 12 months you are in the US (need to be pre-approved within 12 months and then that is good for another 4). After that you're in general population so ironically could be easier to get a mortgage sooner rather than later.

Tarkak9

... find a property which has an fha loan on it assume it.. see if its easier to qualify; certainly is waay cheaper!

lending is such a big PITA at the mo..

agibson6

I moved to Canada from UK a couple years ago and am now being relocated to the USA. The Canadian credit history is not reallly accepted in USA and with the current housing issues in USA it's very difficult to get a mortgage without having a social security number and work permit, neither of which I have at present.
I found a small local bank in the area that I want to buy the house (they only have 2 branches) and went armed with my UK and Canadian credit history, letter of introduction from my Canadian bank, and job offer letter from my company.
I have a good credit score and a reasonable downpayment and was approved for a mortgage within a couple days.
Sometimes smaller is better as they can work round the unticked boxes

Welsh_girl

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that offered help and advice. Thanks to you, we have now pre-qualified for a mortgage by a broker which our realtor suggested. He was able to use our international credit history and get us a good loan amount at a good rate. :0)

Sara