# Buying a home



## JAKEBAXTER (Mar 14, 2012)

Hello- we are still somewhat new to the US. Does anyone know who I would go to for purchasing a home? I haven't had any luck with the big banks because I do not have US credit. We are willing to put down a large sum of cash and even transfer money from over seas if needed. Anyone have input on a lender we could go to for financing?


----------



## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

JAKEBAXTER said:


> Hello- we are still somewhat new to the US. Does anyone know who I would go to for purchasing a home? I haven't had any luck with the big banks because I do not have US credit. We are willing to put down a large sum of cash and even transfer money from over seas if needed. Anyone have input on a lender we could go to for financing?


Slow down. Have you and your spouse settled on a house? Are you working with a realtor?


----------



## JAKEBAXTER (Mar 14, 2012)

We are already working with a realtor. Just looking for a lender at this point. We want to get pre-approved before putting in an offer.


----------



## stednick (Oct 16, 2011)

*Mortgage Broker*

15 years ago in Pennsylvania I used a mortgage broker I picked from the local yellow page listings. They served me well, using my credentials and numbers to shop around for lenders and get, in their terms, "the best mortgage rate available". They did get me a preapproval letter from a bank stating a dollar value that the bank would lend me (contingent upon a satisfactory property appraisal). Worked out well for me. 

The qualifiers I'll put on this is that it was in Pennsylvania, and fifteen years ago we were in a sellers real estate market. Long before the "mortgage debacle" turned into the "foreclosure crisis" and the broadcast "financial crisis" morphed into today's "credit crunch".

Good luck.


----------



## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

JAKEBAXTER said:


> We are already working with a realtor. Just looking for a lender at this point. We want to get pre-approved before putting in an offer.


It is very unlikely that a bank or a mortgage lender will consider you a potential client. Why does your agent not get you in contact with a mortgage broker? That may be your only chance. In very simple terms a broker is a go-between and often works with lenders open to high risk/high rate/fee clients.


----------



## Allansus (May 14, 2012)

twostep said:


> It is very unlikely that a bank or a mortgage lender will consider you a potential client. Why does your agent not get you in contact with a mortgage broker? That may be your only chance. In very simple terms a broker is a go-between and often works with lenders open to high risk/high rate/fee clients.


We moved to the US in April and had no credit history. Our realtor made a few calls to local banks and one was able to offer us local rates, the only thing extra we had to pay was a set up fee of about 1.5%, a bit hard to swallow but the only way we were going to be able to buy.

We've been in our house 6 weeks now and love it.

Try local banks, speak with your realtor, there are deals to be had!


----------



## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Since the financial crisis, things have changed a lot. They are much stricter now and require a mountain of documentation. Also most sellers now require the buyer to be pre-qualified. You may want to consider checking with a credit union. I just refinanced our home through our Credit Union. Credit Unions are very popular where we live and many have no restrictions to being a member other than living in the area. I don't know where you live so it may be different where you are as it does vary around the country.


----------

