Mortgages & Credit Score
#16
Banned
Joined: Apr 2012
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 8
Re: Mortgages & Credit Score
Good question. However, I will have no overseas income because I would have quit and already moved to, say, rented property in the States. I could sell my uk home and use that as a deposit on a house in the States whilst renting here thus showing an ability to repay. However, the home will be classed as either a buy to let or a holiday home and will attract a higher rate of interest which will already be high as it is an overseas property.
I have since found out that Wells Fargo offer a 'secured' credit card. So, you place up to $10,000 with them and they offer a credit card up to that value. However, ironically they will still credit score you to see if you are eligible.
I have since found out that Wells Fargo offer a 'secured' credit card. So, you place up to $10,000 with them and they offer a credit card up to that value. However, ironically they will still credit score you to see if you are eligible.
As you are not moving until next summer, I presume you would rent out your property to have some rental income to support for your mortgage repayment. You could notify the bank once you move to US and occupy the house for own use so they could switch the classification into "owner occupied" instead of a buy-to-let mortgage. What sort of interest rate are you looking at?
#17
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: Issaquah, WA
Posts: 274
Re: Mortgages & Credit Score
I have one of those with $1000 down and it did help build my score. But be warned, I've had it over 1 year now and it's not easy to get your original money back - apart from closing the account or applying for a new unsecured one. I don't want to do either of those currently, whilst we get a mortgage approved.
#18
Re: Mortgages & Credit Score
I have one of those with $1000 down and it did help build my score. But be warned, I've had it over 1 year now and it's not easy to get your original money back - apart from closing the account or applying for a new unsecured one. I don't want to do either of those currently, whilst we get a mortgage approved.
By the way - a common school of thought is that it's actually better to go for a lower limit on one of these rather than a higher one, as there seems to be a 'sweet spot' in terms of credit utilization that will go best in your favour. The figure seems to be about 33%. I asked for just a $500 limit with my card, so I spent $160-$170 a month, paying off in full each time. The most difficult part was keeping track so that I spent that amount - the rest was easy.
#19
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2012
Location: Boston
Posts: 18
Re: Mortgages & Credit Score
Thanks all. Super helpful.
#20
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: Issaquah, WA
Posts: 274
Re: Mortgages & Credit Score
Our mortgage approval was a little painful too as they wanted to validate our credit history in the UK. We had to let them ring all our UK CC companies and get them to detail our account status and history over the phone (with us asking the questions).
Also, they have demanded 2 years IRS tax returns to get approval. We've just submitted #2, so hopefully final underwriting will now be good.
Also, they have demanded 2 years IRS tax returns to get approval. We've just submitted #2, so hopefully final underwriting will now be good.
So with 2 weeks before closing this was bad news. Thankfully some further negotiations with the underwriters and Fannie Mae (and a big deposit) have meant they have dropped that condition on our mortgage. Phew!