britishspouse

I am a UK citizen, married to a US citizen and we are about to file the paperwork for me to go back to america and stay permanently.

We rented for 4 years but would love to buy, however I have no idea about the mortgage process. I do not have a job in the US yet, so we would wait to buy until i did have a job.

But where would we get one from? My husband has bad-ish credit in the US, and I have really good credit in the UK, but am I right in thinking that, that wouldn't mean anything in the US?

Have tried to do some research but can't find much info. I know there alot of first time buyer programs in the US with free courses etc, so that may be our best bet.

We may just have to wait until hubbys credit improves, or could I take it out if we had sufficient down payment and my good credit?

ian-mstm

Feel free to not reply if you don't want, but did he have a problem with identity theft, or is he just bad with money. If the latter, you may want to try to protect your finances because, in many US states, what's yours is his.


Yup... pretty much!


While it may take a while, it's probably the safest course of action.

Ian

britishspouse

no identity theft, he just has a big student loan, and was late on several credit card payments :S

I have heard that some UK nationals with US spouses have got mortgages and that the US banks contact the UK credit authorities? So if i was earning a stable wage when I get my US citizenship, they may take my UK score into consideration?

Its all very confusing.

ian-mstm

The student loan should actually help his credit rating or, at least, not make it any worse. However, the late payments are likely what has caused the problem. As long as he continues to pay on time, his credit score will steadily improve.


Once you become a US citizen, they may take your UK credit history into consideration. You know that'll be at least 3 years after you enter the US, right? Meantime, during those 3 years and once you have a social security number, you can build your own credit rating in the US.

I should add, that even with bad credit you should be able to get a mortgage - but you'll likely pay a higher interest rate.

Ian

britishspouse

ok well thanks for the input

Yeah he has often in the past missed payments and had them very late on both his student loan and credit cards. He's trying to pay them off, but has been told they are not enough to get help with, yet on his own he barely meets the interest, after bills/insurance etc.


Were both trying to save like bad, so it not only helps our application but in the future we can get a nice down payment hopefully

Bomjeito

I'm USC, my husband UKC. We got our mortgage through Wells Fargo, who has an international division that works with expats without credit history in USA but makes a salary to support the mortgage. His company also participates in the program so it was very easy to have his company show what he makes salary-wise with them, as well as confirm his past years of salary and transfer/relocation details.

My husband has owned many homes before in UK and has a wonderful UK credit score - it all meant nothing here in USA. They did contact his UK-based bank to confirm his UK mortgage details (as confirmation of all debt, primarily, not that he had one) and his savings/current account details.

It did not matter the amount of the down payment here - that only decides your rate of interest offered and whether or not you pay mortgage insurance (here, anything under 20% down payment requires the PMI.)

Even though I am the USC, and I have a great credit rating/score, I could not be one to formally apply for the mortgage as I was not employed here in the USA.

Unfortunately, I think it will be difficult to find affordable financing here until you have a US-based credit rating here (that will take a year or so, there is a wiki here with great info on that) and your husband improves his. Banks are very selective now with their loans and the rates reflect that. Above all, remember that applying for a mortgage should cost you NOTHING but you need to have your USC husband's credit report known to you both PRIOR to having a bank run it because if you have any problems that need to be fixed, you do not want the bank to see it until those are sorted.

And also - don't have your husband start having people run his credit report for store cards, credit cards, etc. - large numbers of 'hits' on someone's credit lowers the score. I had that happen recently to me as my credit was run in place of my UKC's just for 'ticking the boxes' and now my credit rating has lowered. (I have to wait 6-9 months for that all to clear up.)

Good luck.

sir_eccles

Do you actually know your credit scores or are you just assuming it is bad? It may be worth going to a mortgage guy and say you are in the early stages and look at getting pre-approved. He will then run your numbers, get your credit score and also look at your overall financial situation. He will then be able to say for certain where you stand. Otherwise you are just guessing. Try and get a personal recommendation for the mortgage guy.

If you do know your score, note that anything about around 740+ will get you the best deals without having to pay extra interest. 20% down payment is the minimum these days and they will make sure you aren't taking out a second loan to magic up that down payment (at least our bank did).

Just bought my first house with my USC wife :-)

britishspouse

I know mine in England, but hubby doesnt know his exact score no. However he was turned down for a car finance, and also for an additonal $1000 credit card. He says he checked the score a year ago and it was around 570/600 i think.

I know mine is extremely high in the UK, however that probably wont matter once i move to the US. I'll have to start over and build a US score.

congrats on your first home!!

fatbrit

He can increase it by being proactive.

1/ Pay everything on time. The FICO score is highly skewed towards the last two years of your history.

2/ Use the govt-mandated site and take one of his credit reports for free every 4 months. Don't pay money for anything extra.

3/ Find a GOOD credit board and read up how to get erroneous items administratively removed. Follow their advice.

4/ On the same GOOD credit board, read up on how to get bad items removed even if they're true. It involves demanding that they prove the default, and if they fail to answer within a statutory period the black mark vanishes by law. You'll find the system and template letters on good boards. Finally, don't let an agency do it for you -- they're often too sloppy to carry through.

NatashaB

We got our mortgage through bank of america (before we moved here). They did a credit report through a company called Landsafe who put together a credit report based on our UK accounts (basically they conference called each of them with us on the line to confirm security details and asked each company about payment history). All they needed from the US side was 2 USA pay stubs and copies of visas/passports I think.

britishspouse

Thanks for the reply Sounds pretty straight forward .... but i suppose if you have all the docs and stubs it is heh. Im definitely not as worried now, so hopefully If my VISA is granted, and once I land a job we'll be able to buy within a year

NatashaB

It was ridiculously simple really, and I still worry that they've made a mistake and will change their minds Think someone also mentioned Wells Fargo who were also willing to do us an expat-type mortgage but BoA was a slightly better deal.

Edit: I should add it was in my husband's name only as he was on an L1 and I was on an L2 - I came over after him and still haven't got an EAD or SSN so it just seemed easier to do it based on his income. We still can't get credit for a vehicle or a storecard though.

Also check out some of the FHA backed loans you can get - they may be easier to get as they are insured by the government so slightly less risk to the lender?

TimNiceBut

My take on it is that I would try to get hubby's finances back on track first; if he's got problems keeping up with his current debt payments already, then buying a house and having Murphy move into the spare bedroom is going to cause a huge mess. Credit rating only plays a minor role in this scenario and IMHO is the least of your problems. The credit score will improve as a side effect and you've got time to build your on score in the meantime.

And that's before I ask the unpleasant question as to why someone who has trouble paying his current debts needs a car loan or another credit card; but that's because I've dug myself out from under a huge pile of debt that I incurred because I was stupid and I'm trying to not go back there.

britishspouse

who is murphy?

And its because he is currently driving a 1196 toyota truck with about 300,000 miles on it, which is falling apart. A friend at a dealership promised him a good rate, but when they ran his finances he was denied, so thats the car part im talking about.

And teh credit card was because we simply needed money. When i was living in america it was only him working, I was on my F1 and my parents had a financial issue which meant they couldn't afford to pay my last months tuition. so hubby had to squeeze it out, and we were living off crumbs basically, and he was often overdrawn, so he thought a $500 card could give us a quick boost.

We both know debt is not good, its just been tough for him. His dad is ill also, so he has had to spend money travelling to see him, and finances are just super tight, so even though he is paying them off, he's barely making a dent.

Were hoping when I am there, and able to work a second income will help alot

TimNiceBut

That's Murphy as in Murphy's law.

I aspire to own something as new as 1996 . But then again I'm one of those perverts who tends to pay cash for vehicles in 99% of cases.

I'm sure it'll help, my post was more along the lines of getting back on your feet before you two jump down the next potential hole. I know, that's not the American way :P but given that a lot of marriages fall apart because of money issues and money related stress, I would recommend putting yourselves on sounder financial footing before taking on the massive commitment that is a house.