British Expats - Mortgage overview

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Re: Mortgage overview

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danoz (Post 11200532)

A brutal war story indeed! Thanks for the advice.

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....

We had to put $22K as earnest money but that was 3% which seems to be normal in San Francisco. Our broker was familiar with working with foreigners so that was a plus. Also LTV was 80% which opens up more lenders or makes them less jittery. I'm not sure we would have got so far with a bank....

Re: Mortgage overview

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotscot (Post 11199810)

How do you think this information can be used?
I think there's too many variables dependent on individual circumstances.

Honestly, I don't think it's going to be that useful. It would have to be very recent for a start, and in the same geographical area with the same personal circumstances.

Re: Mortgage overview

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sally Redux (Post 11200631)

Honestly, I don't think it's going to be that useful. It would have to be very recent for a start, and in the same geographical area with the same personal circumstances.

I think the key is that it has to be recent. I'm not sure of the utility of info from a mortgage 10 years ago (and pre crash).

So time probably most useful then geography. Perhaps the question can be reframed to ask for info about mortgages obtained in the last 2 years...

Re: Mortgage overview

Quote:

Originally Posted by IlAlfie (Post 11200666)

Yes, mainly time.

Re: Mortgage overview

Quote:

What year did you do this? 2014
What was the property type [New/Used]? used
Who was the Lender? quicken, just sold onto fannie mae.
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
How Long had you been in the US at time of approval? 6yrs
What size deposit did you need put down (%)? we chose to put down 20% to avoid PMI
What visa or immigration status did you have? GC
Did you have a security deposit in place at time of closing? yes
If you did, how much or %? think 1%
Did the lender take into account your overseas financial history? no - (although the sale WAS conditional on receiving funds from sale of uk house)
If so, how many years history was required? n/a
Is there anything else that might be helpful.
a)chose to pay your mortgage as frequent as you get paid. ie if you are paid bi-monthly, pay the mortgage bi monthly as it can reduce the interest paid in the end as they are getting money faster. (depends when mortgage co applies the credit on actual day paid or once a month).
b) This loan was over 23 years, because every time we refinance we try and maintain the original approx finish date of our mortgage - rather than extend endlessly. beefs up payments but reduces interest paid in the end a lot.
c) previous mortgage obtained in 2009 with zip credit history was extremely painful as they didn't understand immigration statuses and asked us for forms we couldn't have - ie we were on L1a and didn't have EAD but they asked for that. we had to explain we didnt get one on THAT type of visa. They made us jump through so many gazillion hoops for every single thing. was the most stressful time.
d) get as much pre approved with mortgage company before looking at houses because realtors in a fast moving area wont even accept offers if they don't think you are 'serious' or if its conditional on another sale. we managed to get through our conditional sale eventually but had enormous amounts of stress and negotiations and being asked to break the condition by sellers, and then relying on the option to drop out etc etc. would try and avoid that hassle in the future.

see above

Re: Mortgage overview

We've just got our mortgage through AIG travelguard/Wells fargo. No problem. Been here 6 months and awaiting GC. We did have a large deposit though which eased things I think.

Re: Mortgage overview

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Originally Posted by petitefrancaise (Post 11203428)

We've just got our mortgage through AIG travelguard/Wells fargo. No problem. Been here 6 months and awaiting GC. We did have a large deposit though which eased things I think.

That is good to hear. I am guessing a big deposit definitely helps. We have had a bit more success looking into options.

Two options so far, both 20% down, but one requires 50k security deposit after closing (just in case), the other is just 20% deposit if our UK credit history is good.

Re: Mortgage overview

we purchased travelguard relocation assistance from AIG for 1 year. $400 very well spent.

We just called them and said we wanted to get a mortgage. The rate is good and they asked for financial details from France where we lived before - all in french and it was fine. They're great.

From what I've heard you're going to need at least 20% deposit but we weren't asked for any security deposit.

pm me if you want more details

Re: Mortgage overview

Quote:

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise (Post 11203661)

Hi, we are also with AIG travel guard. I will give them a call and see what they say. Thanks.