AdobePinon

Perhaps because it's a discussion forum. See page title, if in doubt.

As far as the OP goes, he provided some info that'll be very useful to others, and he got some back that may or may not be useful to him. Personally, I would not buy straight off the boat (hell, I'm a citizen and have rented for three years since offloading my last place), but everyone's situation is different.

Tarkak9

A pre-approval is worth as much as the paper its printed on. It can/will change as the transaction will proceed as underwriting is bound to come back with allsorts of stuff despite your pre-approval. If you talked to a person at the bank, ask them if they have talked directly with an underwriter to ensure that they had/have everything they need etc b/c although they say 'your good to go'... you may find out otherwise. IMO don't trust an automatic/desktop approval... you want a manual one!

For your protection; if you go ahead and pursue a property, I suggest that you have an additional provision addressing the loan... more importantly during the period from any loan commitment deadline to closing; the last thing you want is to lose any Earnest money etc because WF came back to say "Um... you know what, we can't do the loan afterall... Who'se next?"

Jerseygirl

I fully agree with what others have said...rent first...especially in this market where prices are still going down. We rented for 2 years and I hated every day in rented accommodation but I'm glad we did because we would not have bought in the area we now live.

Orangepants

This is what happened to us. My OH had been in the US for three years on a H1B with GC application starting and we decided to design and build our house (what a stupid idea). Got a construction loan for approx 60%. House built, CO given, marvellous, fantastic, moved in - then they said they couldn't go ahead and convert loan to mortgage as he needed a GC! We had 30 days to pay the note!

sir_eccles

Plus pre-approvals usually only last a set number of days (30 I think). They may change their mind the second time. We actually benefited from having to run our numbers a second time because my credit score had gone up and interest rates had gone down in the intervening period (3.95% for 15 yrs).

Of course you're looking at a jumbo loan which makes things all sorts of interesting.

IanH88

yes.....it's a jumbo loan (what a lovely name...as if borrowing that amount of money wasn't scary enough...they give it a name like that!) and we have a manual pre-approval from WF and also from Citi.

Citi have actually been surprisingly good with levels of information coming back from their side and I know that the underwriters were directly involved in the process and they came back with a number of very specific questions. That's our preferred route at the moment.

They are both time sensitive offers. The WF one expires shortly, but I wasn't planning on going with them anyway.

The point about asking for a deadline from commitment to closing is a good one which I will bring up....thanks Tarak for the suggestion, much appreciated.

Rockstar08

I have been living in the USA in my own home since 2007. Before I purchased I rented, I strongly recommend anyone do the same.

The laws here are very different for mortgage companies. They can't reject you because your a foreigner and fresh off the boat, its against the law. So don't take that pre-approval to mean anything, essentially they will pre-approve everyone who can demonstrate the financials work for them. Don't be surprised if the old bait and switch tactics land on your lap. There are laws, but there are also plenty of conmen.

When you come to sign your documents at the title company, they will want to see copies (front and back) of your green card.

Financially, I put nothing down, took a 100% mortgage and pay 2.2% for 7 years, then up to 5%. This rate is shockingly low, I know, but true.

If you have any questions feel free to PM.

Thx RS.

Mummy in the foothills

What happened, you can't leave us hanging!

Orangepants

After I picked myself off the floor of the dept store after the call, we franctically called all our friends, family and contacts to see if they wanted to contribute to the "How could we be so stupid" Fund.
A friend recommended a broker who got us a deal with a crappy interest rate but we had no choice so had to take it. The loan was sold the next month to Wachovia and then onto Chase the following month. We refinanced within a year but the estimated cost of this "discrepancy"" as the original bank liked to call it, was about $12k.
At the time I worked for a very successful hedge fund and my MD kindly offered to pay the note should we not be able to arrange something in time - oh to have that much money at one's disposal!

Tarkak9

Your welcom, PM me if you'd like.
Every state is different and so are the contracts. eg. in CO, there is a period between loan condition being met and when closing occurs where EM is exposed and at risk.... that is what you want to protect!!

Tarkak9

I hear that a fair amount. the lender should have known (ahem, disclose) at the time of applications and originations that a GC will be needed for perm financing... but usually it automatically converts to perm financing once CO is issued...

richardjb

As someone who is about to close on selling in the UK and who's moving to CA (perhaps Calabasas...) in the next few weeks with wife and kids (8 and 10), this thread has been a real eye opener. Thanks for the lively discussion. I too had been looking and looking for a loan to buy in the US and the WF option sounds very interesting...

However, I think with the current 'fluxability' of the market, I think I may bank the money from the house sale in the UK and rent for a year to get my bearings and earn 0.0001% interest on the rest in a UK savings account given the current climate

Richard.

washsaint

Interesting thread.....

We moved over 12 months ago on an L1A and bought a property instead of renting (I had lived in the area a few years earlier so knew the areas intimately). Buying a property was the clincher for my wife - knowing she had roots and did not need to worry about losing the house after a certain lease.

I know it would not be for everyone but it was the best thing we did.....my wife settled really quickly, we pay a lot less than if we rented and we are close to securing Green Cards now.

With regards to the risk of being on an L1A - everything in life is a risk and sometimes it's better just to take the risk and try it.

We managed to secure a mortgage with 20% down and proof of 6 months liquidity (with no credit history) and got a good 30-year rate (5.75%). However, we were pre-approved relatively easily but towards the closing date the goalposts changed and we had to have a regional manager's discretionary approval as the bank chnaged it's mind re. pre-approval.

Bob

Thing is, it is a lot more expensive to sell a house here in the US than it is in the UK, so unless you're sure of the greencard, it can be an expensive risk that can easily be mitigated against. Also not always cheaper being a home owner than a renter, does depend on where you live, so knowing a local market again is a big plus.

Renting for a year is a lot cheaper than buying a house you end up realising isn't for you in a area that might not suit the new lifestyle etc.

Michael

Now that you have built up your credit rating, you may be able to refinance at a lower interest rate with no fees (probably less than 5% if your credit history is long enough and is good). Typically most loans in the US do not have a prepayment penalty (check yours to make sure) so contacting mortgage brokers for a lower interest no fee refinance loan won't cost you anything except a little time.