Calli

Hi, my husband has been offered an intra-company transfer to the US from their London office. I’ve been looking at houses and the rents seem to have ~doubled during the pandemic in the area where the office is (Fairfield county, CT). I can’t see how we could possibly afford the rents on these houses but we could afford to buy somewhere.

Is it possible to get a mortgage soon after arriving in the US without having a US credit score? Are there specialist providers that will do this?

Thanks

Nutmegger

Welcome to BE! I will let others advise you re financing, but I do want to say that Fairfield County is expensive whether you rent or buy. I don't know what price range you are looking in, but there is not a lot of affordable housing in the more popular towns and better neighborhoods. To that end, I would really recommend that you spend a year getting familiar with the area before purchasing, to avoid costly mistakes.

destone

From what I understand you must have some pretty significant assets in the UK for this to work through a specialist provider, and a UK credit score alone will not suffice.

Plus, the deposit will have to be rather sizeably, as well.

If you or your husband have AMEX in the UK, you can open new accounts in the US using your UK information. You will get a pretty decent credit, and you can build up an excellent credit history in a year's time. You can also take out a secured Discover card which you will have the option to turn into a credit card in ~9 months' time.

Calli

Thanks both.

I feel like there is probably room for negotiation here so we might be able to work something out - maybe they pay our rent (or part of it) until we have built up a decent credit rating.

We had heard about the AMEX thing and my husband took out an AMEX card a few weeks ago with a fairly decent limit (as the move was starting to look more likely).

We are first time buyers so do not have any assets in the UK but we would have around a 15-20% deposit. I assume this wouldn't be enough?

destone

From the ads I've seen, the absolute minimum seems to be 25% in a situation like this.

Calli

Thanks that’s helpful

tht

I live in Fairfield CT now so I can offer a little insight.

First question is do you have school age children? Which public school kids go to is tied to where you live (less if an issue if you intend to send them to a private school). In our town a lot of the rental property goes to the less sought after schools. Schools vary a lot by town as do property taxes (which will also mean high rent as a landlord will effectively pass these though to you in the rent). There are very few rental properties in some areas, the recent move of many from the city has meant there are even less rentals and higher property prices. As a aside the big tax advantage to owning has mostly been eliminated with the cap on SALT and mortgage interest.

Second what kind of visa are you coming on? Most visas are tied to a job and most employment here is “at will” so if you get fired, you have to leave in a matter of weeks. I waited till I had a green card to buy a property, the cost of selling is so high I would not have risked buying on a visa. I got my green card less than 2 years after arriving on an L1a and by that time I had built my credit enough to buy a place in NYC without an issue.

Calli

Thanks for this, it’s great to find someone in Fairfield county - yes we have 3 children (7,4 and <1). The 4 year old is currently in Reception in the U.K. school system and I think he would start kindergarten September 2021. From looking on “Niche” I was hoping to live around Wilton/Weston/Ridgefield but I would be open to suggestions! What kind of salary would you say is required for a family of 5?

My husband will have an L1-A visa. His office is in Greenwich.

Calli

Apologies, I forgot to mention. This is very much a perm move and the company have said they will apply for a green card as soon as possible. So as quick as it is possible to do we should have one (I know it takes ages!)

destone

The pandemic eliminated wait times as it pertains to Priority Dates (for British citizens), plus if you’re lucky, USCIS will open up Premium Processing in EB-1C category. And so there never have been a better time to apply for green card as L-1A.

tht

I am less familiar with prices those towns than Westport and Fairfield, but assume they are similar, they are closer to the City, but inland so not on the direct train. So you are looking at needing 2 cars. Assuming all the normal benefits you probably want to be looking at atleast $200k salary, but if you want “nice” cars and a mini mansion etc you may need a lot more. Check out some houses on Zillow ans make sure to pay attention to the annual property tax.

Nutmegger

All three are very nice towns with well-regarded school systems. Weston is the most rural, with only a bank, gas station, and very small market that passes as a town center--you'd have to go elsewhere for most shopping. Wilton has a reasonable town center, and is very handy for the Merritt Parkway into the city (and towards Greenwich). Ridgefield is a picture-book New England town, with a nice main street, decent shopping, a community playhouse, and a very good art museum (I lived in Ridgefield for ten years). Possibly a bit more out of the way than the others as regards a Greenwich commute, but lots of people do it every day (and even commute into NYC from there). So I would put it down to personal preference as to which town appeals to you when you visit them. Also note, public transport is non-existent, it's pretty hilly, and the roads can be bad in the winter, so budget for two 4 x 4 SUVs!

cautiousjon

You'll want to put down at least 20% in order to avoid PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), which costs 0.5% to 1% of your mortgage annually... so a $400K mortgage would cost an extra $166 to $333 per month for PMI.

petitefrancaise

Wells Fargo/Bank of America will both offer "ex-pat" mortgages to L1 visa holders. They base your credit score on your UK financial situation. Note that they do not have access to your UK credit details so they will ask for a load of financial information going back 2/3 years. Mortgage statements/bank statements/credit cards etc. I know that Wells Fargo limit this service to the first 12 months of your relocation to the USA - after this time they will use your US credit only. If you have a good payment record in the UK then they use this to justify giving you a very good credit score here with corresponding good interest rates. Obviously, the more deposit you have, the better the deal you will get.

Calli

wow that is a lot, are there any other “house buying costs” like stamp duty that would eat into our down payment?