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-   -   Are we mad???? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/we-mad-752366/)

janeth8711 Mar 21st 2012 10:50 pm

Are we mad????
 
We have sold our home in the UK. My husband is a Uk/Us citizen. We have filled our i-130 petiton in February so have quite a wait yet.
We have a friend who is our realtor an she has found us THE HOUSE. It needs a little TLC which reflects the price but its in the area we wanted. My question is would we be crazy to buy a home without our visa approval?? I've been all over this forum and get the impression its pretty rare to get refused..... maybe I'm just panicky and need reasurance

lol
Janet


Noorah101 Mar 21st 2012 10:58 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 

Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9965992)
We have sold our home in the UK. My husband is a Uk/Us citizen. We have filled our i-130 petiton in February so have quite a wait yet.
We have a friend who is our realtor an she has found us THE HOUSE. It needs a little TLC which reflects the price but its in the area we wanted. My question is would we be crazy to buy a home without our visa approval?? I've been all over this forum and get the impression its pretty rare to get refused..... maybe I'm just panicky and need reasurance

lol
Janet

It's your choice. As long as you're OK making payments on the house while you're still over in the UK, until you get the Immigrant Visa and can move into the house, that's fine. Also consider the tax implications of owning a home in the USA while you are still in the UK.

Rene

janeth8711 Mar 21st 2012 11:08 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 
My husband will be going back in the next few weeks and were fortunate enough to not need a mortgage.
Think I'm just worrying for nothing.

Noorah101 Mar 21st 2012 11:18 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 

Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9966016)
My husband will be going back in the next few weeks and were fortunate enough to not need a mortgage.
Think I'm just worrying for nothing.

Sounds like a plan!

Rene

scrubbedexpat099 Mar 22nd 2012 2:17 am

Re: Are we mad????
 
I nearly did, failed its inspection.

You could probably drag it out a bit.

BritishGuy36 Mar 23rd 2012 1:14 am

Re: Are we mad????
 

Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9965992)
We have sold our home in the UK. My husband is a Uk/Us citizen. We have filled our i-130 petiton in February so have quite a wait yet.

I've been all over this forum and get the impression its pretty rare to get refused..... maybe I'm just panicky and need reasurance

Rare, but not unheard of.

I certainly wouldn't be buying or even putting a deposit down on a house until you are approved for a visa.

If you do not have a criminal record then you are almost certain to be approved ..... but there's always that small chance there will be issues.

You just have to weigh up the risks and make a decision.

janeth8711 Mar 23rd 2012 11:50 am

Re: Are we mad????
 
I don't have a criminal record. Both my son and husband are UK/US citizens so hopefully there won't be any problems. Also the house is a sort sale with complications so weve been told from our realtor could take 90-120 days just to get our offer approved. we could loose a $1000 but would be worth it for the right house.

Janet

MarylandNed Mar 23rd 2012 12:31 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 

Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9968410)
I don't have a criminal record. Both my son and husband are UK/US citizens so hopefully there won't be any problems.

Sounds like a straightforward case then.


Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9968410)
Also the house is a sort sale with complications so weve been told from our realtor could take 90-120 days just to get our offer approved. we could loose a $1000 but would be worth it for the right house.

Janet

Short sales are unpredictable so take anything the realtor tells you with a very large pinch of salt. Ask the realtor how many short sales he/she has handled and see if you can get a detailed explanation of the process. The word "short" doesn't usually apply to the length of time it takes. All parties (remember, there can be multiple lien holders) have to agree to the short sale. There can be lengthy delays and even backlogs - especially in an economy where many sellers find themselves in this situation.

teamaven Mar 23rd 2012 12:44 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 

Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9968410)
Also the house is a sort sale with complications so weve been told from our realtor could take 90-120 days just to get our offer approved. we could loose a $1000 but would be worth it for the right house.

Janet

Janet, my husband and I were in this very situation in February. (we'd filed our I-130 back in November & rec'd our notice on Feb 18th that we'd have our case number in 3 weeks)
We found a perfect house (which was Bank owned) and were told by our realtor that it would be a slow process since the bank had to make decisions and basically controlled the time frame of the whole transaction.

We decided on our best offer and submitted it (expecting of course, that we'd have a month or so before we heard back). Wrong! The bank's realtor got back to ours in less than 3 days, and accepted our offer!
(which was ok, we have the money etc) but it meant that our assumed time frame was wrong.
The bank wanted us to close on March 3rd (a little less than 4 weeks after our initial offer). :blink:

We arranged to get the house & septics inspected (we had not yet signed the P&S agreement (purchase and sales) and were looking into getting insurance for the property (as we wouldn't be living in it).
That ended up being an unexpectedly difficult thing---at least in NH--most of the insurers don't like to insure "vacant" or unlived in homes (or secondary homes--which is what it would be considered since we were not currently living in it, but in the UK.) And even if I had one of my relatives or friends staying there it was non applicable as they were not the owners. :( The premiums we found on the few who were willing to do it were exorbitant and were only bare bones coverage.

After a lot of pfaffing around and running around, stressing and a so-so report on the inspections we decided to skip it. We rescinded our offer (which we could do legally at that point without incurring penalties or losing our escrow deposit).

So I'd just suggest you look at how you'll be able in insure it/ and what your plans are if the time scale from the bank (a short sale is still under the control of the bank AFAIK) suddenly changes.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! :)

janeth8711 Mar 23rd 2012 5:23 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 
My husband is going over in a few weeks and will probably stay there until our visa get issued as he has businesses to look at etc..... our realtor is a very good friend of ours and says because there is currently 2 mortgages on the home it will take along time, although i know from your experience things don't always go to plan :ohmy: we are still very much undecided but thanku for your experiences. Our family think we are mad for selling everything and moving 4000 miles away an having to start from scratch again . But we know this is the best decision for our family as we want our children to have a great life, which currently in this country don't think they would have.

Thankyou for sharing your experiences :p

Janet

BritishGuy36 Mar 24th 2012 2:46 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 

Originally Posted by janeth8711 (Post 9968410)
I don't have a criminal record. Both my son and husband are UK/US citizens so hopefully there won't be any problems. Also the house is a sort sale with complications so weve been told from our realtor could take 90-120 days just to get our offer approved. we could loose a $1000 but would be worth it for the right house.

Janet

Your hubby and son being USCs is irrelevant, apart from the fact that of course they can file the I-130 for you. Their citizenship status otherwise has no bearing on your being approved or denied for a visa.

If all you are risking to lose is $1000, I'd do it if you really love the house. I figured you would be risking more than that.

IanR Mar 24th 2012 7:34 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 
Short sales can take a very long time to close. It's a situation where the mortgage bank AND the house owner have to agree terms and usually the owner is a reluctant seller and plays for time. It can take 3-6 months to close easily.

janeth8711 Mar 24th 2012 9:50 pm

Re: Are we mad????
 
That's right Ian, this home has 2 mortgages on it so they both have to agree. which is why its perfect for us as were in no great rush. Our realtor got back to me today too. The price has been reduced yey :)

Janet

Bob Mar 25th 2012 12:08 am

Re: Are we mad????
 
Have you guys lived in the area previously and know it well?

If so, go for it, if the kids are school aged and you know the school district that serves the street is a good one.

Other wise, you'd be mad to buy a house without living in the area a year first, considering how much it costs to off load a house over here.

That and the cost/hassle involved in getting insurance and utilities hooked up...but as it's getting warmer, it's probably less of a concern if you can't get things switched on straight away.

janeth8711 Mar 25th 2012 9:44 am

Re: Are we mad????
 
Hi Bob

Yes we do know it well. My husband grew up in this area. We have 3 children all school age and the local elementary is very close. Also very close to my father in law which is were we need to be. Not forgetting a few of my fav restaurant's near by too:D
As I've said before our realtor is a very close family friend so we trust her 100% she's taking us through the process step by step.
Thanks for your advice though

janet


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