Buying a House on Conditional Green Card

[Cathi 5,755]

1 hour ago, Cincyman said:

Actually you are as a citizen inside US, but even if you are a citizen you have to had a good credit history. 

2 years is not always an enough time to build a very strong credit history, but it could.  

My husband was here 18 months when he got a mortgage, he was pre-approved at 12 months but it took us 6 months to find the house we wanted. As long as one starts building credit right away there shouldn't be an issue. I added my husband to one of my credit cards and I had him apply for a credit card of his own the moment he got his first job. He bought a car after he was here 6 months with my co-sign.

[andy78 178]

The mortgage applications that I saw do not ask whether you are "conditional" or not. It only asks to select your status: US Citizen, Permanent Resident, etc.

[NxN 10]

4 hours ago, AK_2014 said:

We finished ROC not long ago; several people have said in various ROC threads that they have found it difficult to impossible to get a mortgage during the ROC process (banks think there's a risk the ROC might not be approved; they don't realize that actually really close to 100% of cases do get approved!). But I think I remember reading of some other people who were able to get mortgages during that time. You might have to shop around a bit with multiple lenders. 

 

Best of luck with your home-buying process!

@AK_2014That is our worry. Getting most of the way through the process, and then being told no because they don't realise that

 

6 minutes ago, andy78 said:

The mortgage applications that I saw do not ask whether you are "conditional" or not. It only asks to select your status: US Citizen, Permanent Resident, etc.

 

Surely they ask for proof of your status, at which point they would see my green card being due to expire..... that is the concern.

We appreciate this could be a case-by-case basis, and could be dependent on the under-writer and even the person that actually processes the application.

 

[NikLR 13,227]

Just now, NxN said:

@AK_2014That is our worry. Getting most of the way through the process, and then being told no because they don't realise that

 

 

Surely they ask for proof of your status, at which point they would see my green card being due to expire..... that is the concern.

We appreciate this could be a case-by-case basis, and could be dependent on the under-writer and even the person that actually processes the application.

 

Actually I don't recall anything during the process that asked for my green card! Originally I was on the mortgage but I ended up just being on the deed, which really is the important part anyhow. 

[NxN 10]

@NikLR Sadly, for us to afford the house, we would both need to be on the application  From what I've read online about the process, its only when it actually goes to the under-writer that they ask for all the docs and proof of everything, so I guess depending on when you came off the mortgage, they might not have cared?

[YecaCruz 379]

We are literally in this process right now. We sent his ROC package and also got a mortgage pre-approval about a week after. It was exciting to learn that both our credit scores are in the 800s! I added him as a co-signer to my card then 6 months later we applied for another card with him as the primary name; so that worked out great for us! We have an offer on a house now and are just waiting for the appraisal.

 

There were no problems with the loan stuff. The only thing we had to do was account for the few months that he was not employed which was during AOS and we sent a copy of his green card along with a short letter of explanation.

 

His green card expires April 26 of this year

Edited February 18, 2018 by YecaCruz

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

you do not need to be a USC to buy property

you need an income,   over a year at the same job/not just a year of working / banks like stability

you need a good credit report / check it free at credit kama or other free site and don't fall for "needing several credit cards to improve credit"

our neighbors bought a house and he was just here on work visa

they still own it and are back in Germany renting it out

 

i should say helps to have a savings and bank account with at least 10 to 20 % down

Edited February 18, 2018 by adil-rafa

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

and no,  someone living outside the US can buy property

you would be surprised to see how much is owned by foreigners

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

27 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

you do not need to be a USC to buy property

you need an income,   over a year at the same job/not just a year of working / banks like stability

you need a good credit report / check it free at credit kama or other free site and don't fall for "needing several credit cards to improve credit"

our neighbors bought a house and he was just here on work visa

they still own it and are back in Germany renting it out

 

i should say helps to have a savings and bank account with at least 10 to 20 % down

Then you could do a Hard Money loan and just use the property as the collateral.  Credit history or job is a non factor for a Hard Money loan.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

hard money loans are usually intended to build or fix a  home for further sale

rates are unually high as they are intended as short term loans

not the best idea

banks and credit unions have competitive rates

a morgage lender can point someone in the best direction

Edited February 18, 2018 by adil-rafa

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

1 minute ago, adil-rafa said:

hard money loans are usually intended to build or fix a  home for further sale

rates are unually high as they are intended as short term loans

not the best idea

banks and credit unions have competitive rates

a morgage lender can point someone in the best direction

Hard Money loans are great in the right situation.  I have used them in the past and would in again a heartbeat.

 

Banks and Credit Unions make people jump thru hoops, and can be painfully slow and all the time want nickel and dime you with a lot of "Costs".  

 

If I had to give suggestion to a home buyer , it would be to look at home that the owner will give you terms and you just pay them directly until you own the property, No need to get a lot of people involved trying to get their cut of pie.

 

 

 

 

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

9 hours ago, NxN said:

@NikLR Sadly, for us to afford the house, we would both need to be on the application  From what I've read online about the process, its only when it actually goes to the under-writer that they ask for all the docs and proof of everything, so I guess depending on when you came off the mortgage, they might not have cared?

Why would you both need to be on the application?

 

 

[payxibka 10,045]

1 hour ago, Chris Duffy said:

Why would you both need to be on the application?

 

 

Combining of the incomes to qualify?

[Michael2017 368]

There are tons of German house owners in Florida. Literally 1000s. 90%+has only a visa waiver. They are able to obtain loans also but they have higher down payment requirements (30%).

[NYCruiser 423]

19 hours ago, NxN said:

Does anyone have any experience trying to buy a home whilst still on their conditional green card?

My card is due to expire later this year, if anyone has any advice or has experienced this, we would be grateful for any insight!

I note it depends on the Bank. We had a really difficult time with Citibank, NA (I could use another perjorative word that rhymes with Citibank, but don't)...The took about 3 months with multiple calls to explain to them the 2 year Green card Spousal CR1. In the end, I just told them to shove it.

 

Then I got a call from their Legal Department Section that deals with Immigration of H1B etc people. They cleared the matter up, called Underwriting and the Loan was approved.

 

Yes this IS a pain!!