# Mortgage advice



## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi all. New here so be easy on me 

I live in the UK sadly. I am hopefully moving to the US. 

Now, I currently rent in the UK and can never afford a house. Obviously I wouldn't be able to move to the US if I bought a house in the UK for financial reasons.

I have just got my credit report and everything is all above board - 966 credit score.

I am looking to buy a house in Houston. I am not sure how mortgages really work nor do I know how much mortgage I should get or even if I can get a mortgage.

I have never ever have had any debts of any kind in my life and hopefully the credit score will prove this. Furthermore I also have an Amex card and payments are always on time.

So I am wondering, does anyone know what my chances are of buying a house in the US? I do visit a couple of times a year and my client is thinking about moving me over so given this I am needing to look into buying a house rather than rent.

I also don't drive but lets not get into that just yet. Having awful neighbours where i live (usually isnt the case at all) has triggered me to take action and think longhaul!

any advice from people here about houses/mortgages in the US from someone who resides in the UK?


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## Uecker_seats (Jan 26, 2012)

With your credit score that high, there should be no problem, HOWEVER there will be closing costs involved, and there is a good chance they will ask you for a substantial down payment, at least $5K USD.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

thank you.
so given my credit score which is UK based, would this work in the US?


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## Uecker_seats (Jan 26, 2012)

There are 3 major credit reporting agencies based in the USA are Equifax,Transunion and one other I cannot recall the name of it by golly! Ask for a manager when you apply for your mortgage loan, #996 credit scores are based on the above USA based reporting agencies , just to make sure there are not additional resrictions on people applying from the UK.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

thank you. I also have Amex card too, if that helps.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Normally, your credit score from outside the US will NOT carry over to the US. There are a few exceptions, most notably if you are dealing with a UK based bank in the US (and it helps if you were already a customer of the same bank while in the UK).

Most banks like to see two years of credit history in the US before they will consider making a mortgage loan. If you're looking to purchase a house before you move over, you may want to consider drawing up a business plan (i.e. to rent out the house). Just be aware that renting out a house that you later plan to live in will cause tax complications on resale. (Nothing is easy these days.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks Bev! appreciate that. See, now im getting to learn more and more and this is what I need.

hmm. thats a shame. I want to buy a house. damn it!


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

If you have ever lived in Canada, and have a (positive!) credit score/history from Canada, that is valid in the US too. 
But having had a dollar account with a US bank in Belgium, didn't help at all. So I don't know if it helps if it's a US bank in the UK.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

sadly never been to canada!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

firehawk said:


> Thanks Bev! appreciate that. See, now im getting to learn more and more and this is what I need.
> 
> hmm. thats a shame. I want to buy a house. damn it!


The underwriting matrix does not consist of just your credit score which by the way can yoyo over next to nothing. Amongst other factors your immigration status is involved to determine the risk factor. Going by your original post you reside in the UK. 

How did you come by the US credit score? What is it actually based upon?


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

ah ok!  Thanks. 

well I am currently not in the US. I am not a US citizen. I do have a US visa though (B1/B2). I would like to open a US bank account for a number of reasons (legitimately of course). one is to build up the credit rating but also to get my wages paid into from my client as it costs them to do an international transfer.
they are also thinking about moving me over so would be nice if I have things set up


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

firehawk said:


> ah ok!  Thanks.
> 
> well I am currently not in the US. I am not a US citizen. I do have a US visa though (B1/B2). I would like to open a US bank account for a number of reasons (legitimately of course). one is to build up the credit rating but also to get my wages paid into from my client as it costs them to do an international transfer.
> they are also thinking about moving me over so would be nice if I have things set up


you can open an account when you are in the US
you wont build up a credit rating in the US until you have a SSN


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

twostep said:


> The underwriting matrix does not consist of just your credit score which by the way can yoyo over next to nothing. Amongst other factors your immigration status is involved to determine the risk factor. Going by your original post you reside in the UK.
> 
> How did you come by the US credit score? What is it actually based upon?


From what I understand, the credit rating system in the UK is very similar to that in the US - even to the extent of having the same three major credit rating agencies involved. But except for someone dealing with the same UK bank on both sides of "the Pond" I have never heard of a UK credit rating or score transferring over the Pond.
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Bevdeforges said:


> From what I understand, the credit rating system in the UK is very similar to that in the US - even to the extent of having the same three major credit rating agencies involved. But except for someone dealing with the same UK bank on both sides of "the Pond" I have never heard of a UK credit rating or score transferring over the Pond.
> Cheers,
> Bev


US credit is tied to SS#. I hope OP has looked into B1 very closely.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

Well the B1 was given to me for business (obviously) - conferences, speaking and visiting clients. I do not pay US tax because I work from home in the UK thus I am not eligible for paying US tax since I am an external self employed consultant not residing in the US but travel to the US for meeting clients, conferences etc...


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

firehawk said:


> Well the B1 was given to me for business (obviously) - conferences, speaking and visiting clients. I do not pay US tax because I work from home in the UK thus I am not eligible for paying US tax since I am an external self employed consultant not residing in the US but travel to the US for meeting clients, conferences etc...


You will 99.9% not be able to open a business account without US address, tax it and supporting documents. Depositing business income into a personal account will sooner or later raise red flags.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

gotcha  
thank you


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Uecker_seats said:


> There are 3 major credit reporting agencies based in the USA are Equifax,Transunion and one other I cannot recall the name of it by golly! Ask for a manager when you apply for your mortgage loan, #996 credit scores are based on the above USA based reporting agencies , just to make sure there are not additional resrictions on people applying from the UK.


The other one is Experian.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

the credit report I got was from experian


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

twostep said:


> Depositing business income into a personal account will sooner or later raise red flags.


That is not necessarily true. It depends whether he is self employed as a 1099 or incorporated. I was a 1099 self employed software consultant for many years before I incorporated. Only when I incorporated did I have a business account. This is the normal way to do things. This is not my opinion as my accounting and taxes were managed by a professional.


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## firehawk (Sep 9, 2012)

yup. thats how it is with me. 
self employed. have a business and personal account in the UK. payment made from the client to business account and then from that I take a %age as my pay and transfer to my personal account


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Things have changed a lot since the fiscal crisis. You now need a substantial amount of documentation such as your tax returns for the past 2 years, etc. Generally you will have to pay at least 20% down to avoid paying Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), additional points and maybe a higher rate.

I refinanced my home a few months ago to lower my interest rate.

The typical current rates for a convential 30 year fixed rate mortgage are 3.375-3.5% where I live. Houston should be the same.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

JohnSoCal said:


> That is not necessarily true. It depends whether he is self employed as a 1099 or incorporated. I was a 1099 self employed software consultant for many years before I incorporated. Only when I incorporated did I have a business account. This is the normal way to do things. This is not my opinion as my accounting and taxes were managed by a professional.


As you say - it was a while back. OP has a B1 and wants to get paid into a US personal account.


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