wabzasm

Hey guys

I'm a long time lurker on the boards, I've found all the visa advice here to be really useful, thank you all!

I'm (hopefully) moving out to San Francisco in March, and I was wondering how soon after arriving we might be able to get a mortgage.

I know it takes time to build up credit, so assume that would be part of this process, but then other people seem to get mortgages as part of their credit building tactics, so i'm a bit confused.

My wife has credit we can lean on, but the score is pretty bad after not really looking after it and living over here for 4 years.

Is it possible to get approved for a mortgage before even leaving the UK?

Thank you!

Hotscot

I believe you'll need to wait until you're here but I've seen talk of brokers that can assist in the process.

You'll need to provide tons of documentation.
They'll lose it of course so you'll need to provide it again

Anyway, if you find an affordable place they'll probably want a large deposit, and then you'll be locked into an unfavourable rate.

Or rent for 12 months, save up your deposit, get a better rate?

Pulaski

You might find a broker who can line up a mortgage for you, as Hotscot said, at an unattractive rate, but you'll need a minimum 20% deposit. It'll be easier if you have 30-40%, though the rate still might not be that great. Transaction costs to refi are such that even if you refi after a year or two you may have to pay a good bit (perhaps rolled into the principal) just to get a lower rate (IF rates are still lower then).

Renting for a year to both improve your credit and to check out which areas you want to live in is a better idea.

kins

We got a mortgage 3 months in, but we had a 60% deposit. We had to provide something like 12 months of statements from 10 different accounts including phones, elec, gas, internet, mobile phone, previous mortgage, etc.

That was in 2007 and I hear it's got more difficult since.

Pulaski

It was a different world back then! (Pre 2008 and the mortgage bond led meltdown.)

SpoogleDrummer

Is your wife a US citizen then? If so does she have any family that could co-sign for you? I got a mortgage 4 months after moving here without any credit history, I had to have my father-in-law co-sign and we got a decent rate for the time and didn't have to put any money down (which was handy because I never had any).

Phyzz

I had a mortgage offer prior to leaving Denmark to get here. We were put in contact with a company by our relocation agent. Credit checks were completed by talking to our creditors, many in a conference call with Equifax (I think) who then compiled a credit report for the loan company. No huge deposit available and a good rate.

We already had a good read on the neighbourhood from future colleagues and visits made to the area. School district boundaries were a big driver in location. We were renting in Denmark and my wife was very clear that she didn't wish to rent again.

We completed on our house a month after we 'landed'. I have to say that this may not be an ideal way to do things but it does show that it can be done.

Hawkini

We moved end of Feb 2011, had a mortgage and completed on a house by start of April 2011, so a little over a month - with 2 weeks looking at houses.

Unfortunately can't remember name of broker, but we ended up with a Wells Fargo International Relocation mortgage.

We had 10% deposit - the rate was high (5%), and the relocation company started on the assumption we had a 720 credit score.

They never talked to UK credit, we had no US credit, so I'm not entirely sure how it happened but it did! We are due to refinance to a ultra low rate on a 10 year fixed and also get rid of PMI - and after our tenants have been paying 2 years of our mortgage for us

wabzasm

Thank you - so it sounds like it's more about building credit in order to bring the mortgage rate down, that is great to know thanks!

We potentially can have family co-sign so that's another good thing to know about.

I'll also check out the Wells Fargo International Relocation mortgage, cheers!

Pulaski

Wells has about 30% of the US mortgage market, and they know how to manage the mortgage account after "closing", so if you can get a WF mortgage, either directly or through a broker, I would recommend that.

Mortgages that I have had that ended up ("sold on" to) in the hands of JPM Chase have had issues on several occasions that took either months to sort out, or in two cases I just left until the end of the tax/insurance year when the escrow account was recalculated.

Hawkini

Not sure if you can go directly to WF - although I did find the company that we went through: https://premiarelocationmortgage.com/

They required ALOT of paperwork. If I remember correctly I needed to show mortgage statement with payment history over 3 years in UK, where funds for deposit came from (signed solicitor statement etc), where they are now etc.

Bank statements for previous year to show incomings/outgoings - I'm guessing the underwriters didn't have US credit history or access to UK history, they took a look at our statements and fine tooth combed it for large debts etc.

The actual stumbling block was our SSN numbers - in fact it was the last thing that was required to get sign off - the actual number cards arrived the day before scheduled closing.

sir_eccles

Pretty much SOP for all mortgages now. They want to know you can pay and they want to know where your deposit has come from. They are particularly averse to the deposit coming from a none cash source (credit card, second loan, borrowed from anywhere else).

Pulaski

Not so much "averse", more that mortgage lenders are not permitted to close a loan where the borrowers down payment has come from unsecured borrowings, i.e. from a credit card, personal loan, family loan, etc. On reviewing my in-laws mortgage application Mrs P and I were asked to provide a signed explanation for a four-figure sum we had paid them a few months earlier, which wasn't a problem as in fact it was a loan to us that we had repaid to them.

It is permissible to use a secured loan such as second mortgage, equity loan, or equity line of credit for the source of your down payment, so for example if you buy a holiday home, you can take a second mortgage on your primary home to get the down payment.

A loan from your 401K is also permitted.

JAJ

Co-sign? NOT a good idea.
Unless you are willing and able to repay the loan if the borrower does not do so.

All risk - zero benefit.

NatashaB

We got a mortgage approved in principle via BoA before we even arrived in 2010 - 3.5% down, FHA, 4.25% interest rate on a 30 year fixed, which was decent at the time. They used a company called Landsafe who got credit references on us from our UK financial institutions. They required a ton of paperwork and we had to delay the sale for 6 months because we had moved into the house and were renting it and they said that according to FHA rules that was a conflict of interest. It worked in our favor though since we ended up getting a lower interest rate.