# How can a new immigrant buy a house



## sallyhosny (Feb 4, 2012)

We will be moving to canada most probably Alberta or Halifax in general how can we buy a house ?


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Hire yourself a Real Estate agent in the area that interests you. Provide them with your requirements and they will find properties to meet your needs.


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## sallyhosny (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks dear for answer is it easy to have a mortgage as a new immigrant to complete the house price


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

Comming from everywhere but the US: if you don't have a job for at least 6-12 months: no.
Don't know how it is in Alberta, but in the GTA they require that you have a Canadian job for at least 6-12 months, and a huge downpayment. Although I have heard stories form other provinces that they only require a downpayment of 30% and 1 year of Canadian employment.


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## marko2 (Feb 21, 2012)

You can buy a house just like anybody else really. Just go to a reputable good real estate agents to help you out. The only thing is, unless you have a big load of $$ as a down-payment, you might not get a mortgage from a bank since you have zero credit history as a newcomer. Do you know what I mean? But again, it depends on how much $$ you have or make.


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## G-Mo (Aug 17, 2011)

Rent for a year, get a job, don't move jobs. Get a credit card make regular payments, get a monthly cell phone contract, pay it off every month, buy a car on payments or lease, take a loan (even if you don't need it) with 12 months (or less) term, pay it off... Build credit. Then, after a year, start looking to buy.

Alternately, bring a lot of cash money.


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## nikki r (Jan 3, 2012)

actually buying a house is fairly simple in Alberta. as long as you have a downpayment of at least 20% and your annual income (be it back home or in canada) can hold the monthly payments your good to go. your mortgage and utilities like gas, elecric, water cant be more that 40% of your monthly outgoings, but thats fairly high anyway. you can sit down with mortgage brokers and they will run you through it. it doesnt matter that you have no credit rating as long as you have a 20% down payment.

Having said all this if you already have a job in canada lined up then you will have no problem as long as its permanent!!

hope this helps


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## JackieInNovaScotia (Jul 27, 2009)

I agree with G-Mo about renting for a year, or maybe even 6 months to get some credit history. We moved to Halifax, NS in 2006 from England and we rented for only 3 months, after staying in a hotel for 3 weeks (not easy with two teenagers - but any age is a little stressful). Get a credit card/s where you can. We bought a couple of cars and paid 0% interest for a year, which helped us with our credit rating. We thought that bringing utility bills would help, but as immigrants we all start with zero credit rating.

As for a good realtor, you'll need one that knows the area. The realtors aren't all the same and we would highly recommend Donna Harding. What we know as an estate agent from the UK - they work differently here. This is her website: Houses for sale in Halifax


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## nikki r (Jan 3, 2012)

Hey, just to let you know that me and my fiancé have just had our mortgage accepted on a house in Calgary Albert and neither of us have a job yet. It was pretty straight forward and is based on our income here, plus we haven't actually landed as a permanent resident yet. We managed to do it while on a recci visit. Very excited, just wanted to let you know that it's totally possible for a new immigrant to get a mortgage with no credit history in Canada. 







sallyhosny said:


> We will be moving to canada most probably Alberta or Halifax in general how can we buy a house ?


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## Palrts (Jul 1, 2010)

nikki r said:


> Hey, just to let you know that me and my fiancé have just had our mortgage accepted on a house in Calgary Albert and neither of us have a job yet. It was pretty straight forward and is based on our income here, plus we haven't actually landed as a permanent resident yet. We managed to do it while on a recci visit. Very excited, just wanted to let you know that it's totally possible for a new immigrant to get a mortgage with no credit history in Canada.


Hi,
We are struggling to get a mortgage and we have some income in Canada but more in the UK.
Any leads you cold give us would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Pal


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## belcher (Feb 26, 2012)

Have you investigated banks that have access to your credit rating back home, such as HSBC, they will have branches both back home and Canada.


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## Palrts (Jul 1, 2010)

Funnily enough we joined HSBC a couple of years before moving for that very reason.

Frankly, our credit ratings have not transferred, they will not accept our UK tax returns or the accounts submitted by our accountants. We are currently making an overpayment on our UK tax just so that we can get a refund and paperwork to prove that we have paid our taxes.

We have not, thus far, found the joined up thinking we expected.

Pal


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

belcher said:


> Have you investigated banks that have access to your credit rating back home, such as HSBC, they will have branches both back home and Canada.


Sorry, but UK Credit Rating won't apply in Canada... new country, new rating.

Agree with GMo about renting for 6-12 months to establish some history. Get a couple of credit cards etc.

Also agree that if OP can come over with a ton of money to pay for a house, then they're welcome to buy outright.... I'd say that they'd need AT LEAST CAD $500000 to get a decent house in the GTA or Vancouver.


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## nikki r (Jan 3, 2012)

What Area are you looking to get a mortgage and buy? We basically just sat down with a mortgage broker, told them our situation and as long as we had a 20% down payment we were good to go! Don't go to the bank for a mortgage, they will say no if ur a new resident, defiantly go with a broker


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