Getting a US mortgage-- RBC?

[CAMama3 1]

Anyone know if the RBC US mortgage is the only way to get a US mortgage before moving? Without a US co-signer, that is. From our research, it seems that the US lenders won't give mortgages without 2 years of tax returns... unless you get a high interest rate or have at least 40% down payment.

We both live in Vancouver and would really like to buy a house instead of rent. Possible?

Thanks for your insight!

[Cathi 5,696]

Not true, my husband and I bought a house this year and he only had one year of US tax returns at the time. We didn't have even close to a 40% down payment in fact we had a low down payment because my husband qualified for first time home buyer program. Banks are looking for employment at the same company for at least a year and also credit. I started building credit for my husband the moment he set foot in the US. There is no such thing as a "co-signer" for a mortgage only a joint applicant whose name would be on the mortgage and jointly responsible for the payments for the length of the mortgage.

[NikLR 13,227]

The petitioner doesn't have US credit? Hasn't been filing US returns?

Edited October 1, 2014 by NLR

[CAMama3 1]

From my understanding: A co-signer is responsible for payments but not on the title. A co-borrower/joint applicant is responsible or payments and on the title. A non-occupant co-borrower is responsible for payments and may/may not be on the title.

I should have said the 2 years of returns is because my fiance (beneficiary) is self employed. W2 employees require less. And therefore, we wouldn't qualify until we've been in the US for two years. I could be mistaken. We want to buy a house now (before moving) instead of years from now because 1. our kids are in school and I don't want to deal with finding a rental in one school catchment and then have to find a house in the same one. 2. We know the area already and know we want to live there.

Yes I (USC) have been filing taxes. We both have US credit scores of 750+... my fiance worked in the US on an H1B many years ago, but we have maintained credit cards and bank accounts. I have zero income as I am a stay at home mom.

If we want to buy before moving, I believe our options are:

1. RBC US cross border mortgage or some other cross border mortgage

2. I apply for the loan with a co-signer or non-occupant co-borrower and then add my fiance to the title

[Rob & Monika 87]

So you have tax returns, and good credit...I don't see what the issue is.

[CAMama3 1]

I have no income. I can't get a mortgage on my own... without a co-signer. My fiance can not get a conventional US loan because he hasn't been contracting that long (and does not fill in US taxes, not sure if they would take Canadian). We will be contacting RBC and a WA based mortgage specialist to see what they say.

I was hoping that someone had bought US property (like in FL or AZ) while still in Canada or other couples that lived in Canada and bought a house before moving and had experience with these cross-border mortgages or knew of other options that I am not aware of.

Thanks!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I can't find a date on this article - it may be a few years too old - but most of the information still looks valid. It appears that TD bank will also do mortgages if they have US banks in the area and Harris Bank may also be an option. Anyway, the publisher of this newsletter might also be another useful source to investigate:

http://www.buildingwealth.ca/News/FeatureDetails.cfm?NewsletterID=3919&Type=F

Edited October 2, 2014 by Kathryn41

[c2a 4]

Interesting thread and thnk you for sharing the information people. I am in a similar situation where i will be moving to US within a month and would like to own a property within a year instead of renting and will hunt for mortgage options. Since i have no US credit history but i have canadian history of owning a mortgage for about 4 years now i will be leveraging on that to get cross border mortgage loans. I will try to contact TD and RBC and compare their services and rates among other US lenders if they are willing to lend. I do plan to put in 40% down if that helps.

[canuk2usa 7]

sorry to bring back this thread, but I was hoping someone can share any additional experiences of getting a mortgage after moving to the States with IR1.

In our case, neither of us is able to show 2 years of US tax returns. I've been self-employed in Canada and will be self-employed in US. We both have good credit history, due to having lived in the US in the past.

I do have a TD Canada Trust and HSBC accounts in Canada.

40% as down payment would be difficult, probably would be able to do 25%

Do you think finding co-signer would be the only way of buying a house without waiting for 2 years?

[CAMama3 1]

In the end, in order to get a low mortgage rate, 30 year fixed, with a 20% downpayment, we used a family member as a non-occupant co-borrower/co-signer. It was the only way, in our case. Our mortgage guy said that if I was the only one that made the payments, that after a couple of years, we can probably take my family member off the mortgage and add my husband instead without too much hassle. We'll see.

Only one of the Canadian banks did it, TD maybe?, but the rate wasn't good and they didn't do 30 year fixed. Something like that. I think BMO Harris was going to be like dealing with any other US bank, so they were out too. Someone on another board pointed me to the United Nations Federal Credit Union as a lead (still needed two years of self employment (could be international, I believe) which my husband did not have at that time, so that was out, but might work for you?)

We bought a house before moving, if you are doing it after, some places will let you get a mortgage after a year.

HTH!