Mortgage overview
Apr 1st 2014, 12:05 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 121
Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this?
- What was the property type [New/Used]?
- Who was the Lender?
- State?
- Did you use a broker?
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]?
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval?
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval?
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)?
- What visa or immigration status did you have?
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing?
- If you did, how much or %?
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history?
- If so, how many years history was required?
- Is there anything else that might be helpful.
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 12:33 am
#2
BE Irregular
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Tampa Bay Florida
Posts: 4,849
Re: Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2009/10
- What was the property type [New/Used]? sfr/1950
- Who was the Lender? broker
- State? FL
- Did you use a broker?yes -lender ended up as suntrust
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? fixed fha
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? about 5 yrs
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? about 5 yrs
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? 3.5%
- What visa or immigration status did you have? PR
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? Earnest money not at closing, at contract.
- If you did, how much or %? $1000
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? no
- If so, how many years history was required? na
- Is there anything else that might be helpful.
Thanks!
Last edited by RICH; Apr 1st 2014 at 12:36 am. Reason: missed one
Apr 1st 2014, 12:48 am
#3
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,439
Re: Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2012
- What was the property type [New/Used]? Used
- Who was the Lender? Wells Fargo
- State? NC
- Did you use a broker? No
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? 30 yr fixed
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? 11 yrs
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 11 yrs
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? 5%
- What visa or immigration status did you have? Citizen
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? Yes
- If you did, how much or %? $1,000, I think (certainly not more than $3,000)
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? No (not really applicable given time in the US
- If so, how many years history was required? N/A
- Is there anything else that might be helpful. IMO the rate you are offered is not going to vary much between competent and responsible lenders.
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 1:19 am
#4
You aint seen me, right?
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: US of A, TN
Posts: 3,573
Re: Mortgage overview
- What year did you do this? 2008
- What was the property type [New/Used]? Used
- Who was the Lender? Platinum Mortgage/Citi Mortgage
- State? TN
- Did you use a broker? Yes
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? Fixed
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? 6 Months
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 6 Months
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? 0
- What visa or immigration status did you have? Permanent Resident
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? Yes
- If you did, how much or %? $500
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? No
- If so, how many years history was required?
- Is there anything else that might be helpful. - I used my father-in-law as a co-signer who has/had perfect credit at the time.
Apr 1st 2014, 3:23 am
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2011
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1,834
Re: Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2013
- What was the property type [New/Used]? Used, built 2001
- Who was the Lender? Broker, then sold to PennyMac, who've been faultless
- State? AZ
- Did you use a broker? Yes, recommended by my realtor - broker was excellent
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? Fixed, 15 year, 3.125%
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? 1 year
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 15 months
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? Dunno about 'need' - it was about 65%
- What visa or immigration status did you have? L1 at start, switched to LPR half way through; L1 would've been fine, though
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? Earnest money?
- If you did, how much or %? $5k, from memory
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? Nope, although it was based on a credit card from HSBC which we originally got based on overseas history
- If so, how many years history was required?
- Is there anything else that might be helpful. Realtor and broker worked together a lot, and were both excellent, both came to closing in case of snags, etc - really pleased we took our realtor's recommendation; made the process super smooth. Lots of paperwork required to evidence where the downpayment was coming from (involving an offshore multi-currency account in Jersey through which we were FXing our sterling UK house proceeds, and our Swiss bank accounts because we'd just moved from there - as you can imagine, the underwriters LOVED all that. Not. But we still got there relatively smoothly).
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 2:19 pm
#6
Chocoholic !
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Houston, TX - Officially Not Shit since 2009
Posts: 2,324
Re: Mortgage overview
- What year did you do this? 2008
- What was the property type [New/Used]? New
- Who was the Lender?Bank of America
- State?TX
- Did you use a broker?No
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]?Fixed
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval?6 months
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval?6 months
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)?Need, cant remember, we put down 65%
- What visa or immigration status did you have?L1A & L2
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing?yes
- If you did, how much or %?about $1,500
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history?yes
- If so, how many years history was required? we provided 3 years
- Is there anything else that might be helpful.we did it all online, but wouldn't again, would have preferred a real person in a branch that we could harass
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 2:23 pm
#7
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,159
Re: Mortgage overview
How do you think this information can be used?
I think there's too many variables dependent on individual circumstances.
I think there's too many variables dependent on individual circumstances.
Apr 1st 2014, 3:03 pm
#8
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,005
Re: Mortgage overview
See below
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2001 and re-mortgage in 2003
- What was the property type [New/Used]? 1960's single family ranch
- Who was the Lender? Fleet then Wells Fargo and switched between lenders about a further 4 times during the whole mortgage re-selling period
- State? Inebriated
- Did you use a broker? Yes
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? FHA Fixed-rate (30-yr then 15-yr)
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? Several
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? A month (but was there previous to 2000)
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? zero, I think.
- What visa or immigration status did you have? H1B
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? Probably
- If you did, how much or %? Not much ($1,000?)
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? No
- If so, how many years history was required? N/A
- Is there anything else that might be helpful. Yes, every situation is different. If you are worried about getting a mortgage, find a decent broker.
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 3:51 pm
#9
Account Closed
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,570
Re: Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2001
- What was the property type [New/Used]? Used
- Who was the Lender? Dont remember
- State? MA
- Did you use a broker? Yes
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? 30 year fixed
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? 18 months
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 18 months
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? 5%
- What visa or immigration status did you have? H1B but broker put me down as a citizen
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? No
- If you did, how much or %?
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? No
- If so, how many years history was required?
- Is there anything else that might be helpful. I had to pay some PMI for a while.
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 5:57 pm
#10
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 417
Re: Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2014
- What was the property type [New/Used]? used
- Who was the Lender? Not a big bank
- State? CA
- Did you use a broker? Yes, found through Realtor
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? 30 year fixed
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? 9-10
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 9-10
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? 10
- What visa or immigration status did you have? PR
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? Yes
- If you did, how much or %? 5000
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? No
- If so, how many years history was required?
- Is there anything else that might be helpful. FHA have tightened rules / PMI is annoying / The broker will suggest amount that is far too much / Rents in my area are crazy, made buying a simple choice / in my area inventory is low, very tough to find a place / Did I really just sign my life away?
Thanks!
Apr 1st 2014, 9:13 pm
#11
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: Charlotte,NC
Posts: 1,717
Re: Mortgage overview
The challenge that we had was regarding the immigration status. Be aware that they, the banks, change the goalposts and therefore leave you in the poopoo if you don't watch out.
We bought land, and got a construction loan for 50%, the bank knew my boyfriend was on a H1-b, they did use his history in the UK as he'd only been in the US about 2 years. He had about 10 yrs history in the UK. House built, marvelous then we just needed to convert the C loan to a mortgage - moved in, then I got a call to say that unfortunately as we did not have GCs, ergo no mortgage, that they were calling in the note - gave us 30 days!
Make sure they don't require GCs (if you are silly enough to buy on a visa!)
We bought land, and got a construction loan for 50%, the bank knew my boyfriend was on a H1-b, they did use his history in the UK as he'd only been in the US about 2 years. He had about 10 yrs history in the UK. House built, marvelous then we just needed to convert the C loan to a mortgage - moved in, then I got a call to say that unfortunately as we did not have GCs, ergo no mortgage, that they were calling in the note - gave us 30 days!
Make sure they don't require GCs (if you are silly enough to buy on a visa!)
Apr 1st 2014, 10:06 pm
#12
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2014
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 186
Re: Mortgage overview
I realise there are a lot of mortgage threads out there, but I am hoping we can get a summary thread that overviews peoples experiences. We are starting to look into getting one in the US, and I am finding certain challenges, so hopefully people dont mind participating. For those that have been successful in obtaining a mortgage, could you summarise the following:
Thanks!
- What year did you do this? 2014
- What was the property type [New/Used]? used
- Who was the Lender? Opes but lender selling it on.
- State? CA
- Did you use a broker? Yes
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]? Fixed, 30 year
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval? 30 months
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 3 years
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)? 20%
- What visa or immigration status did you have? L1/2
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? yes
- If you did, how much or %? 3% of sale price
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? No but were interested to do so if we wanted cheap loan for home improvement
- If so, how many years history was required?
- Is there anything else that might be helpful.
Thanks!
This was my first time using a broker and it really was a much more pleasant experience as the mortgage system is different... and the estate agents do a lot more than in the UK so find one that you like! The broker was pretty key too so v pleased they worked well together and knew each other well. Phew!
Last edited by IlAlfie; Apr 1st 2014 at 10:19 pm. Reason: mistake
Apr 1st 2014, 11:21 pm
#13
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 168
Re: Mortgage overview
I've bought twice, i'll separate both instances with a /
Thanks!
- What year did you do this?2003/2013
- What was the property type [New/Used]? used/used
- Who was the Lender?countrywide/US Bank
- State?CA/CA
- Did you use a broker?yes/no
- Mortgage type [fixed/variable/other]?30y/30yr
- How many years (or months) US credit history did you have at time of approval?6yrs/16yrs
- How Long had you been in the US at time of approval?6yrs/16yrs
- What size deposit did you need put down (%)?not sure 'need' is the right word, but: 0%/20%
- What visa or immigration status did you have?green card holder
- Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing?yes/yes
- If you did, how much or %?3%/3%
- Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history?no/no
- If so, how many years history was required? n/a
- Is there anything else that might be helpful.brokers can be helpful in unusual circumstances as they know where to go between multiple lender to find programs that fit you, and tend to hold your hand a bit better if you're unfamiliar with the process. If you're savvy with the process and know your way around the process, you can save money by going direct to the lender. I did that my 2nd time around and saved a ton of money. If using a broker, make sure you get info on their fees up front. Read about PMI and how to avoid it - if you have it, you're paying for insurance for the lender, no benefit to you, and it can be expensive - any single loan over 80% loan-to-value has PMI, so put 20% down, or see if you can get inventive - I piggybacked two loans in the early 2000's and didn't pay a penny in PMI, because neither was over 80%, yet totaled, they were 100% . Shop lenders/brokers - a lost 0.25% somewhere on a loan because your guy wasn't competitive can cost you tens of thousands. Pay close attention to life of loan - how long you'll be in the house, if you know its sub-5yrs, get a 5yr fixed and save a ton of money vs a 30yr and also afford more house. If you're shopping in a competitive market, there are plenty of online tools to find current listings - find those listing agents who sell a lot of homes in the neighborhood you want, and sign up with them. In competitive markets there are all sorts of corrupt practices in play, and typically the selling agents hold the keys to the kingdom, you want one who has their own inventory in the area you're looking, and those that do, normally have hookups with other agents in that neighborhood. When bidding here, price is obviously huge, but other factors can also sway things - amount of downpayment often indicates the likelihood the transaction will go through, pre-approval from a strong lender, showing proof of funds, etc. - my last house purchase in 2013, I was the lowest of 6 bidders in the 2nd round of bidding, and got the house because I had solid financials and they liked my personal letter to them (read 'plea' letter). There's a lot of good info out there on the web, but caution, home buying can vary heavily by state, and you should limit your research to your state of choice or you will get bad info and (unintentionally) bad advice. I think I know a decent amount about home buying in California, but much of it might not be applicable elsewhere.
Thanks!
-Matt
Last edited by mmhendrie; Apr 1st 2014 at 11:29 pm.
Apr 1st 2014, 11:27 pm
#14
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Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 121
Re: Mortgage overview
The different routes to the mortgage could also be interesting, in terms of where people are having more success with brokers or going straight to the lender. Brokers will often have access to many lenders, know different loop holes etc... going straight to a lender doesnt always give you this, so where was the success and where not.
Hopefully it also gives people an understanding of deposits requirements etc.... for those will low years credit history are people putting down higher deposits as apposed to those with long established history etc...
All in all there are a stack of ways this information is useful. I tried to base the questions on the variables i am encountering in my own inquiries. Hopefully someone else out there has a similar situation to me and were successful with more favorable variables, this gives me hope i can purse different options.
Last edited by Danoz; Apr 1st 2014 at 11:30 pm.
Apr 1st 2014, 11:39 pm
#15
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 121
Re: Mortgage overview
The challenge that we had was regarding the immigration status. Be aware that they, the banks, change the goalposts and therefore leave you in the poopoo if you don't watch out.
We bought land, and got a construction loan for 50%, the bank knew my boyfriend was on a H1-b, they did use his history in the UK as he'd only been in the US about 2 years. He had about 10 yrs history in the UK. House built, marvelous then we just needed to convert the C loan to a mortgage - moved in, then I got a call to say that unfortunately as we did not have GCs, ergo no mortgage, that they were calling in the note - gave us 30 days!
Make sure they don't require GCs (if you are silly enough to buy on a visa!)
We bought land, and got a construction loan for 50%, the bank knew my boyfriend was on a H1-b, they did use his history in the UK as he'd only been in the US about 2 years. He had about 10 yrs history in the UK. House built, marvelous then we just needed to convert the C loan to a mortgage - moved in, then I got a call to say that unfortunately as we did not have GCs, ergo no mortgage, that they were calling in the note - gave us 30 days!
Make sure they don't require GCs (if you are silly enough to buy on a visa!)
We would be doing this on visas. I know can happen as we have already been given the realities of what one lender can do, but its not feasible. They want a $50,000 balance kept on deposit as security, plus minimum 20% down. As a result, very interested to see who else in similar situation has had better success.
You re right about the banks. They change the goal posts constantly, they are also very "knee jerk" and black and white in their approach. its not really in the majority of the interests to offer mortgages as they dont make huge amounts of money off it, plus all the other overheads that come with it. So they are not compassionate about this.
I am interested to see if people have had different experiences with brokers and or credit unions etc....
