DO you own a house in America?

[teddy000 0]

Hello all,

A quick question for all you VJers here. Do you and your foreign spouse own a house or plan on buying one? Please comment. Thanks.

[happywifeymom 4]

Hello all,

A quick question for all you VJers here. Do you and your foreign spouse own a house or plan on buying one? Please comment. Thanks.

We own our house. We bought this house 3 months after we got married in 2007.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

yes... but a townhouse, not a house house.

[christeen 966]

We just got some very bad news as it pertains to buying our home.... My husband and I have been married for nearly 7 years and we own an apartment in Italy. We have 20% down (and more if needed), I have excellent credit and my husband makes good money and has been at his current job for 7 months and his previous job for 14 years and I am a Veteran.

My husband received his Green Card and SS# in November... So we went to apply for a mortgage and start shopping and we got turned down by everyone for a mortgage... Reason, my husband does not have a credit history! He also does not have 3 years of tax returns or w2's (as he was not a LPR)!!! I am so very dissappointed!!! We saved up for a really big down payment, but they said it did not matter. We wanted to qualify as I have the credit and my husband makes more $$ than I do...

He has had a checking account, we opened up a secured credit card (they would not give him a regular one)... But we are back to square 1 and trying to establish credit for him... So I found a credit union that offers what is called a "credit builder loan" where they give a loan, it is put in a savings account and he makes monthly payment plus the 3% interest to start to build his credit. We will also apply for a few more credit cards...

It just seems so unfair, he has a job contract, makes really good $$, I have paid off one home already, we own property in Italy and have enough to cover the full cost of the home in investments and can put up to 50% down and we cannot get a loan... We were so hoping to be able to buy a home before April and take advantage of the tax credit and get out lives moving forward... Guess I am stuck here for a bit...

But it sucks as we live a big distance from where my husbands work is... But I am really trying to think positive and consider how much we can save in that amount of time...

To all new LPR's and USCs, Credit and a good credit rating and history are very important, and someting to think about. Establishing credit for new immigrants is difficult and takes time... If you are buying a home together or considering it, start getting a credit history....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Put his money into a joint account and buy the house in your name alone.. draw the cash from the joint account.

[Marilyn. 340]

no we don't own a house and have no plans to in the near future...

[christeen 966]

Put his money into a joint account and buy the house in your name alone.. draw the cash from the joint account.

My income is not enough to qualify since I am partial owner of a rental property which effects my debt-to-income ratio... Everything we have are already in joint accounts. And we have been told that due to the current economic climate a good credit score is absolutly necessary regardless of what we put down... unless it is 100% (which of course we would not need a mortgage!!!) We are still pursuing private "self-funded" lenders since they do not need you to qualify under the Freddy/Fannie rules... But it is looking more like we will need to wait it out and buld up credit for him... It just sucks that we have planned for years for him to get off the ships and buy a house and start our family then you have slam on the brakes!!! I guess this explains why the housing market is taking so long to recover, they went from being way too loose with credit to not giving it out no matter what!!!

[jundp 191]

We currently lease and have no immediate plans to buy a house. We are slowly building up our savings but aren't really sure exactly where we'd want to buy a house anyway.

[Penguin_ie 5,988]

Yes, we bought a house a few weeks before my interview with savings we transfered from Ireland, so we'd have a home to move into, and also to help with the domicile requirement for the USC and assets (as he sponsosered me on assets, not income).

[john & jean 37]

a home and eight acres of beautiful East Texas jungle!!!

[English Muffin 59]

Moving from 'Finding Work in America' forum to 'Moving Here' forum.

[Betti 1]

Yes, we bought a house in April last year!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I wonder what the OP's intention was with this thread, beyond simply knowing who does or does not own a home in the US.

OP - did you have any queries regarding the process itself? Or perhaps you seek opinion on some aspect of the home buying process?

[featherB 1]

My income is not enough to qualify since I am partial owner of a rental property which effects my debt-to-income ratio... Everything we have are already in joint accounts. And we have been told that due to the current economic climate a good credit score is absolutly necessary regardless of what we put down... unless it is 100% (which of course we would not need a mortgage!!!) We are still pursuing private "self-funded" lenders since they do not need you to qualify under the Freddy/Fannie rules... But it is looking more like we will need to wait it out and buld up credit for him... It just sucks that we have planned for years for him to get off the ships and buy a house and start our family then you have slam on the brakes!!! I guess this explains why the housing market is taking so long to recover, they went from being way too loose with credit to not giving it out no matter what!!!

Have you looked at getting an FHA loan rather than a Fannie/Freddie one? That's what we did - we bought our house (with a joint mortgage) when I'd been in the US a little over a year, but had only been employed for about 4 months. We had a MUCH smaller deposit than you, and while my credit score was good, my credit file was very 'thin' (i.e. only a year's credit history)... this was in April/May 2008, so things may have changed a little, but under the FHA guidelines I know they are a LOT less strict than Fannie/Freddie about "must have two years in the same job/field, must have credit score of X or above", etc etc. We were able to get a really good interest rate, too. Might be worth looking at, if you haven't already...

[KitEEgirl 0]

Hello!

I would recommend having your husband look at an FHA loan - especially for first time home buyer. The requirements are not as stringent and if he has an income to support it, and not bad credit, he should be approved.

I can recommend using Bank of America. They did wonders for us for our home loan. Just specifically ask about an FHA - first time home buyer... and you should be ok.

Talk to a loan officer

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