Simple questions about income, credit and mortgages

[EKT 117]

I'm a US citizen planning to return to the US after living and working overseas since 2009. I have an excellent credit score but will probably not be employed for the first few months after we move. My husband hopes to transfer to a US office with his current company once he has a green card so he will be employed and have income, but very little credit history in the US. We actually have no idea what his credit score is (we will request his reports soon) but he hasn't had a bank or credit account in the US for over 10 years.

 

Are we likely to struggle to get a mortgage until either I'm employed or he has worked for several months? We should have at least a 50% deposit from selling our current house if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

Your husband is unlikely to have a good credit history since he hasn't had any accounts in the US for the last 10 years.

 

It's great that you'll have 50% to put down.

 

Lenders will want to see tax returns for the last 2 years.  

It may take awhile for you and your husband to build a credit history. 

 

You may end up paying a higher interest rate. 

[EKT 117]

24 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Your husband is unlikely to have a good credit history since he hasn't had any accounts in the US for the last 10 years.

 

It's great that you'll have 50% to put down.

 

Lenders will want to see tax returns for the last 2 years.  

It may take awhile for you and your husband to build a credit history. 

 

You may end up paying a higher interest rate. 

Thanks. I’ve filed as married filing separately for several years and he hasn’t filed since he last worked in the US in 2009. 
 

So essentially the only way for new immigrants to buy a house in the US is with cash? I guess most people lease for the first couple of years. It seems like even getting a decent rental would be tricky without credit.

[bakphx1 789]

Typically new immigrants won’t buy a house for a while.  My husband has a good payment history, good joint credit but the lack of history is always a ding on his overall score.  I would just not plant to buy till you both have employment and plan to put the mortgage under your name (but the deed in both).   I had a house when he came but we refinanced and we used just mine as it turns out if there are two people on the mortgage, interest rate is based on the lower credit score.  On the upside, spousal income is still part of the household income you can use.

Edited December 5, 2021 by bakphx1

[Wuozopo 4,293]

We bought a new house and my wife applied for the mortgage only in her name because I was a foreigner who had no credit history or a job. She got a better rate that way. You might want to try that angle as well. But in your case, you won’t have a job. Sitting down with an established lender and discussing strategy options may serve you better than just clicking on mortgage ads online.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Wuozopo

[JeanneAdil 6,579]

If u have kept a credit card in the US and have good credit ratings as u say,  u will be able to rent (and i hate to rent but it may be best for u at this stage)

Sign a year's lease,   he can work with the I 551 stamp (and then the actual green card) as soon as he is in the USA

A year of work to establish his credit and then apply for the mortgage 

most lenders want a year of work history for buying a house ( or a car so u might be spending some of your cash on that)

don't forget to factor in all the expenses with a long distance move like new furniture,  utility deposits,  buying a car,   etc 

as for the interest rate ,   shop around till u find the best  rate  /  just being out of the country for extended time doesn't mean a higher rate if your credit is good

make sure the new utility bills (on an apartment) are reported to credit companies (some don't report those )

 

 

[iwannaplay54 985]

15 hours ago, EKT said:

I'm a US citizen planning to return to the US after living and working overseas since 2009. I have an excellent credit score but will probably not be employed for the first few months after we move. My husband hopes to transfer to a US office with his current company once he has a green card so he will be employed and have income, but very little credit history in the US. We actually have no idea what his credit score is (we will request his reports soon) but he hasn't had a bank or credit account in the US for over 10 years.

 

Are we likely to struggle to get a mortgage until either I'm employed or he has worked for several months? We should have at least a 50% deposit from selling our current house if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance

 

Our experience - two returns and two home purchases - the person whose score is being used needs to meet the income requirements for the mortgage

 

Once established - we put 2/3 down and even that didnt make a difference.  Once you’re at 80% loan to value the rate is fixed based on the credit score.

 

You are most likely (assuming you want a meat and potatoes conventional mortgage) looking at renting for awhile.

Edited December 5, 2021 by iwannaplay54

[EKT 117]

3 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

If u have kept a credit card in the US and have good credit ratings as u say,  u will be able to rent (and i hate to rent but it may be best for u at this stage)

Sign a year's lease,   he can work with the I 551 stamp (and then the actual green card) as soon as he is in the USA

A year of work to establish his credit and then apply for the mortgage 

most lenders want a year of work history for buying a house ( or a car so u might be spending some of your cash on that)

don't forget to factor in all the expenses with a long distance move like new furniture,  utility deposits,  buying a car,   etc 

as for the interest rate ,   shop around till u find the best  rate  /  just being out of the country for extended time doesn't mean a higher rate if your credit is good

make sure the new utility bills (on an apartment) are reported to credit companies (some don't report those )

 

 

It's good to know we can eventually use our household income even if the mortgage is in my name alone. I think I will be working within a few months anyway.

 

It sounds like leasing for a year makes the most sense. In that case I think our next big decision is whether or not we sell our current house now if we don't need the cash to buy another house. In terms of moving costs, we think it will be less expensive and easier to ship everything (apart from appliances) instead of buying new. We will sell our two cars and hopefully only need one where we're going. Thanks for the reminder about utility deposits. I'm sure there are other hidden costs that I'm not factoring in but it all looks doable on paper so far.

 

More simple questions... how far out should we start to look for a property to lease and what are the best ways to find one these days? Online or through an agent? It seems like it would be easier to do in person after we arrive but we want to be able to be able to get settled relatively quickly and will need a permanent address to enrol the kids in schools, etc. 

[EKT 117]

30 minutes ago, iwannaplay54 said:

Our experience - two returns and two home purchases - the person whose score is being used needs to meet the income requirements for the mortgage

 

Once established - we put 2/3 down and even that didnt make a difference.  Once you’re at 80% loan to value the rate is fixed based on the credit score.

 

You are most likely (assuming you want a meat and potatoes conventional mortgage) looking at renting for awhile.

Yes, it looks like renting is in our future. We were hoping to avoid that and have our own new home right away to limit the disruption for our kids. But I guess the big advantage of renting is having a chance to get to know the city and neighborhoods for a while before deciding where we end up long term. 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

6 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

We bought a new house and my wife applied for the mortgage only in her name because I was a foreigner who had no credit history or a job. She got a better rate that way. You might want to try that angle as well. But in your case, you won’t have a job. Sitting down with an established lender and discussing strategy options may serve you better than just clicking on mortgage ads online.

This is exactly what we did - it made a good sized reduction in our mortgage rates, because my husband's perfect, long-standing credit score wasn't sullied by my barely-established one. 

[EKT 117]

17 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

This is exactly what we did - it made a good sized reduction in our mortgage rates, because my husband's perfect, long-standing credit score wasn't sullied by my barely-established one. 

Hm, it sounds like we would be better off if I was the one working right away, although I'm still not sure if that would be enough. My credit score is very high but it seems like it's kind of a time capsule from 2009. I still have a credit card but hardly use it and have no other recent activity. I guess another option is for me to work remotely for a US employer for a few months before we go to get some steady income into my US accounts.

[mam521 2,111]

4 hours ago, EKT said:

Hm, it sounds like we would be better off if I was the one working right away, although I'm still not sure if that would be enough. My credit score is very high but it seems like it's kind of a time capsule from 2009. I still have a credit card but hardly use it and have no other recent activity. I guess another option is for me to work remotely for a US employer for a few months before we go to get some steady income into my US accounts.

Grab the Credit Karma app and see how you look. Make a couple of purchases on your CC to renew that credit. Amazon for Christmas presents for family in the US is a simple way to get things rolling. 
 

Depending on your employment situation, sometimes employers will offer moving benefits, one of which is paying for a cheaper mortgage rate for up to a certain amount of time. I managed to rent for a year and then buy in the last month that I was offered the rate. 

[Wouter 143]

When I moved to the US in 2012 it was an international transfer within a big multinational Pharma company and this company actually had arrangements with mortgage lenders (Citi, Wells Fargo, etc) to allow employees coming to the US the opportunity to buy even without any US credit score or credit history. I still had to show my contract and income and proof of making timely rent and car payments (from the country where I lived before moving to the US), but a credit score was not required thanks to my company 'backing' the mortgage. The interest rate was not the best and I actually refinanced a few years later when I had a decent score, but it allowed us to buy right away.
It may be worth it for your husband to check with his company to see if they have anything like that.

[EKT 117]

14 minutes ago, Wouter said:

When I moved to the US in 2012 it was an international transfer within a big multinational Pharma company and this company actually had arrangements with mortgage lenders (Citi, Wells Fargo, etc) to allow employees coming to the US the opportunity to buy even without any US credit score or credit history. I still had to show my contract and income and proof of making timely rent and car payments (from the country where I lived before moving to the US), but a credit score was not required thanks to my company 'backing' the mortgage. The interest rate was not the best and I actually refinanced a few years later when I had a decent score, but it allowed us to buy right away.
It may be worth it for your husband to check with his company to see if they have anything like that.

This is really helpful. My husband works for big multinational engineering company so this could come into play for us. He has held off negotiating the details of his transfer until after his visa interview (which has been delayed for the past 4 months due to a lockdown here). He's not in an especially senior role but it never hurts to ask. Our credit/payment history here is perfect and we bought our first house more than 10 years ago. Even if the rate is higher it would be nice to buy right away.

[JeanneAdil 6,579]

17 hours ago, EKT said:

It's good to know we can eventually use our household income even if the mortgage is in my name alone. I think I will be working within a few months anyway.

 

It sounds like leasing for a year makes the most sense. In that case I think our next big decision is whether or not we sell our current house now if we don't need the cash to buy another house. In terms of moving costs, we think it will be less expensive and easier to ship everything (apart from appliances) instead of buying new. We will sell our two cars and hopefully only need one where we're going. Thanks for the reminder about utility deposits. I'm sure there are other hidden costs that I'm not factoring in but it all looks doable on paper so far.

 

More simple questions... how far out should we start to look for a property to lease and what are the best ways to find one these days? Online or through an agent? It seems like it would be easier to do in person after we arrive but we want to be able to be able to get settled relatively quickly and will need a permanent address to enrol the kids in schools, etc. 

I am in Tennessee and all I know about Oregon is houses and rent are more expensive

but when i moved from NY to Georgia i looked online

and same when we came from Georgia to TN 

everything u want to know is online these days