Buying property when fresh off the plane

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

1 minute ago, Wuozopo said:

We found a new home that was too good to pass up and wanted to lock it in with a contract. (In Texas a contract means nobody else can come in after and offer more.)  My wife was able to get a mortgage pre-approval letter from a lender in in literally 10 minutes with a low interest rate. It was all about the need for speed because we could make an offer with no contingencies like "pending mortgage approval" or "pending sale of current home" which many buyers include in their offer. 

 

Had we included me as a co-borrower, it would have been gathering lots of paperwork, waiting weeks/months, and a higher interest rate, all because I was an unemployed immigrant with no credit and with savings still in a foreign bank. No doubt we could have added me to the deal, but it made no sense economically or with the timing we wanted.

 

So my wife bought the house and her name only was on the deed. We had no issue for removing conditions or naturalisation because of not owning property jointly.  (AOS was without interview and only a marriage certificate as evidence.  Easier times.)

 

If you get your funds in an America bank and have some time to prepare extra documentation, you ought to be able to co-sign the mortgage. But I wouldn't pay more just to please USCIS. 

 

PS- we eventually got my name added to the deed, but that was for us, not immigration.

 

I very nearly tagged you on here @Wuozopo, as felt certain you and your wife would have some knowledge of the financial ins and outs of this type of thing!

 

I plan to transfer the redundancy money over to a US bank account - will leave my tax rebate and what’s in it now in my account here, so can use for booking hotels/trains/hire cars etc when we visit in the future.

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

3 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Best way to build your credit score is to become an authorized user on at least one of your fiancees credit cards ASAP. I added my fiancee to one of my cards with no foreign transaction fees and delivered the card to her on my next visit and let he use that to pay for anything she needed to do for immigration and such. This was about a year before she came over to the US on a K-1, so she had a good 10-11 months of usage on the card, and it earned me points, and I avoided a bunch of fees transferring money. When she arrived we got her social security card first off, and when we went to the bank to open her own account she had an 811 credit score and a 7 year credit history matched up with her SS number. Took us a little digging to figure out how this is possible, because they said the credit report showed a Chase Card with a 5,000 dollar limit and a 7 year history on it. I finally put 2 and 2 together because the Amazon card I added her to was owned by Chase bank. But not just the 10-11 months she had a card was on her credit report, the whole card history came over with it when the computer matched her name to the social security number we just received a few days ago. She got her own credit card then, and has been building her credit even further in the 9 months she has been here. So you could show up here in the US with a nice credit score sitting on hold for you just waiting for the SS number to match it to.

This is fantastic advice, thank you - I’m flying out on Thursday to visit, so will see if we can get it sorted in time for me to return with a credit card - I know his Navy Federal one doesn’t have overseas transaction charges.

 

I’ll also have all my documents (passport, birth certificate etc) with me, as am having my visa interview the day after I return (so will stay in London), so will have those to show at the bank.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

9 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

I plan to transfer the redundancy money over to a US bank account - will leave my tax rebate and what’s in it now in my account here, so can use for booking hotels/trains/hire cars etc when we visit in the future.

Just for awareness:  I’m pretty sure FBAR (reporting overseas bank accounts) applies to PR as well as to USC’s.  

[Crazy Cat 42,547]

1 minute ago, Nitas_man said:

Just for awareness:  I’m pretty sure FBAR (reporting overseas bank accounts) applies to PR as well as to USC’s.  

You are correct......speaking from experience......

[databit 328]

Marry before you buy, even if it's a courthouse wedding and you do a formal symbolic wedding later, so both of you are on the mortgage. Many mortgage companies have a big problem adding people tp a mortgage later, and if they don't like the credit picture of the added person, they can "call the loan," i.e., ask for the entire amount owed, all at once.

 

Not to mention, California has community property laws, in case the marriage fails, and if only 1 person on the mortgage they can claim...you understand.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

You do not have to be on a mortgage to be on a deed

 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

13 hours ago, databit said:

Marry before you buy, even if it's a courthouse wedding and you do a formal symbolic wedding later, so both of you are on the mortgage. Many mortgage companies have a big problem adding people tp a mortgage later, and if they don't like the credit picture of the added person, they can "call the loan," i.e., ask for the entire amount owed, all at once.

 

Not to mention, California has community property laws, in case the marriage fails, and if only 1 person on the mortgage they can claim...you understand.

 

6 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

You do not have to be on a mortgage to be on a deed

 

Is your comment in relation to the above one @Nitas_man? Ie, if my name is on the deed, it doesn’t matter who’s name is on the mortgage, from a divorce perspective? I kind of assume it would be like that, as I’m sure there’s plenty of relationships where one person pays the mortgage, one pays the household bills...?

[Nitas_man 3,100]

3 hours ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

 

Is your comment in relation to the above one @Nitas_man? Ie, if my name is on the deed, it doesn’t matter who’s name is on the mortgage, from a divorce perspective? I kind of assume it would be like that, as I’m sure there’s plenty of relationships where one person pays the mortgage, one pays the household bills...?

Correct.  Being on the deed reflects ownership, not the mortgage.

[NikLR 13,232]

3 hours ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

 

Is your comment in relation to the above one @Nitas_man? Ie, if my name is on the deed, it doesn’t matter who’s name is on the mortgage, from a divorce perspective? I kind of assume it would be like that, as I’m sure there’s plenty of relationships where one person pays the mortgage, one pays the household bills...?

Depends on the state laws. Some divide marital assets by what you put in not just split.

But I'm on the deed not the mortgage.  I used that info for ROC. Certainly not required for AOS. 

[databit 328]

10 hours ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

 

Is your comment in relation to the above one @Nitas_man? Ie, if my name is on the deed, it doesn’t matter who’s name is on the mortgage, from a divorce perspective? I kind of assume it would be like that, as I’m sure there’s plenty of relationships where one person pays the mortgage, one pays the household bills...?

You seem to be confusing mortgage and deed of trust with title. Read this: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-deed-trust-mortgage-9124.html

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Speaking of community property states. We live in one. I posted earlier that my wife got the mortgage on her own. We didn't know to ask for both names to be on the deed at closing or if that was possible. So fast forward a year to when we paid off the mortgage and wanted to do something about having both names on the deed. She emailed a number of local lawyers about doing that. Nobody seem interested or bothered to reply. One replied it wasn't really necessary because in a community property state, I would still get half the house.

 

A couple of years rocked on and we thought about it again and really wanted both of us to be listed as the property owners (and not for immigration purposes because that dance with USCIS was over). Eventually got a lawyer in her home town to draw up a document where she gave 50% of the house to me. She had her signature notarized by our local banker and filed the document with the county clerk. Finally! and the lawyer forgot to bill us. Yay! Free.

[LisaUK 22]

Your name on the mortgage makes zero difference to your AOS or anything immigration wise. Building credit is going to be the hardest part. It makes no difference how great your credit is in the UK it is irrelevant unfortunately here. Just get your name assigned to as many bills as possible when you get here, get a phone, etc. You will need a co-signer if you are buying a car and making payments, but all of this helps build credit. My husband makes great money and has excellent credit but even being added to a joint bank account and the house title still didn't boost me up overnight. 

Edited August 27, 2019 by LisaUK