Getting an American Mortgage as a Recent Immigrant
August 19, 2020 1:23 PM Subscribe
My husband is a Canadian applying for permanent residence in the USA. We want to move to the States and get a mortgage as soon as he gets his green card and lines up a new job. Since he's not an American (yet), he files only Canadian taxes. (We file separately, if that matters.) Since he works in Canada, he doesn't receive a W-2 but a T4, the Canadian equivalent. When we apply for the mortgage (under his name--I will not be on the loan), will he encounter any trouble for not having W-2s / American proof of income? If any of you have gone through this, did you go through a special process or provide any unusual documents to get approved for a loan?
In case it matters, he has an American credit card (and thus an American credit history) and lived in the States from 2006-19 on various visas.
I've spoken with multiple loan officers, and none of them had a clear answer to this question. Thanks in advance!
In case it matters, he has an American credit card (and thus an American credit history) and lived in the States from 2006-19 on various visas.
I've spoken with multiple loan officers, and none of them had a clear answer to this question. Thanks in advance!
When I was looking at property in WA State as a Canadian last year, the real estate agent (who handles Canadian clients buying US properties) told me that it would have to be a an all cash transaction as the US lenders wouldn't take on Canadians. Too easy for us to flee back to Canada and track down, etc. He said none of his clients were able to secure US mortgages for residential or vacation properties. So if this is actually possible, I will be curious to see if anyone has been able to.
posted by miles1972 at 2:36 PM on August 19, 2020
posted by miles1972 at 2:36 PM on August 19, 2020
It's a mess and a lot of mortgage lenders will simply not deal with it because they don't know what to do. Mortgages are very process-driven and if you're missing a document they can't deal with it. When I relocated from Canada to the US in 2008 I got a mortgage through RBC's cross-border banking group. After that I had no problems refinancing in the US as I had tax returns, pay stubs, etc.
posted by GuyZero at 3:01 PM on August 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 3:01 PM on August 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: To clarify a point in case it wasn't clear: When my husband applies for the mortgage, he'll be an American permanent resident. The issue isn't whether he can get a US mortgage as a Canadian; it's whether he'll be able to get a loan as a new American citizen based on his non-American work/income history.
So far it's looking like a no--I'd love to hear from more of you, especially if anyone has had direct experience.
Thanks for the responses so far!
posted by saltypup at 5:29 PM on August 19, 2020
So far it's looking like a no--I'd love to hear from more of you, especially if anyone has had direct experience.
Thanks for the responses so far!
posted by saltypup at 5:29 PM on August 19, 2020
The issue is... whether he'll be able to get a loan as a new American citizen based on his non-American work/income history.
In my experience no one really cared about my immigration status as much as they cared about my US credit & work history, both of which were non-existent when I got here. A Canadian bank helped with that. I got a US secured credit card to bootstrap my credit rating (although other colleagues have gotten non-secured credit cards by working with RBC or local credit unions).
posted by GuyZero at 5:58 PM on August 19, 2020
In my experience no one really cared about my immigration status as much as they cared about my US credit & work history, both of which were non-existent when I got here. A Canadian bank helped with that. I got a US secured credit card to bootstrap my credit rating (although other colleagues have gotten non-secured credit cards by working with RBC or local credit unions).
posted by GuyZero at 5:58 PM on August 19, 2020
As an immigrant on a visa, I needed to give them my last US tax filing and they ran a credit check, and there was a bunch of checking of my foreign accounts to check I wasn't borrowing the deposit - it worked through mostly the normal channels, but it wasn't fun.
However, if you are a brand new immigrant you'll have no credit history and you'll need someone to deal with your special circumstances. I can't tell you whether it's possible but I really don't think the normal procedures will apply.
I strongly recommend finding a secured credit card with a US bank ASAP to start the ball on your credit history, and immigrant websites will be able to give you more clues on what else you might do, but that's a long term - 1-2 year - process before the paper trail forms up. Honestly, I think you'll be renting for a year or two, sorry, though I'm not Canadian and I guess it's possible that puts you in a different circumstance to me.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:28 PM on August 19, 2020
However, if you are a brand new immigrant you'll have no credit history and you'll need someone to deal with your special circumstances. I can't tell you whether it's possible but I really don't think the normal procedures will apply.
I strongly recommend finding a secured credit card with a US bank ASAP to start the ball on your credit history, and immigrant websites will be able to give you more clues on what else you might do, but that's a long term - 1-2 year - process before the paper trail forms up. Honestly, I think you'll be renting for a year or two, sorry, though I'm not Canadian and I guess it's possible that puts you in a different circumstance to me.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:28 PM on August 19, 2020
International mortgages, such as for vacation/retirement/income properties are not uncommon at all. At least, it would be a very good idea to compare the cost of getting a mortgage on a US property from his current Canadian bank vs. today's prime/typical US mortgage costs - which are easily available via web search.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Canadian bank is a better deal.
I have no experience buying US property via a Canadian bank, but I do have experience buying property in Mexico and Ireland via US banks. (...and I Googled enough to make sure this advice isn't completely idiotic, but I can't guarantee its smartness beyond that.)
Lastly, since the 2007-2008 banking crisis, the US banking scene is pretty much local(-ish) credit unions and huge, international banks. Credit Unions are great, but can be extremely hit or miss when it comes to international banking. One I worked with had an unusually large number of members who were Irish citizens who were Green Card workers in the animation field. They were great with international mortgages, transfers, etc. Another credit union I worked with had amazing customer service and extremely low interest rates, but had no interest in international transactions or business customers.
The big guys tend to have terrible customer service, but they do have the institutional knowledge. If you persevere, and are clear about what you are asking for, you should eventually be able to find someone who facilitate the mortgage.
posted by Anoplura at 7:31 PM on August 19, 2020
I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Canadian bank is a better deal.
I have no experience buying US property via a Canadian bank, but I do have experience buying property in Mexico and Ireland via US banks. (...and I Googled enough to make sure this advice isn't completely idiotic, but I can't guarantee its smartness beyond that.)
Lastly, since the 2007-2008 banking crisis, the US banking scene is pretty much local(-ish) credit unions and huge, international banks. Credit Unions are great, but can be extremely hit or miss when it comes to international banking. One I worked with had an unusually large number of members who were Irish citizens who were Green Card workers in the animation field. They were great with international mortgages, transfers, etc. Another credit union I worked with had amazing customer service and extremely low interest rates, but had no interest in international transactions or business customers.
The big guys tend to have terrible customer service, but they do have the institutional knowledge. If you persevere, and are clear about what you are asking for, you should eventually be able to find someone who facilitate the mortgage.
posted by Anoplura at 7:31 PM on August 19, 2020
My experience was about 20 years ago, but it was in this exact situation.
My parents relocated to the US in their 50’s. They were treated by every lender as having a totally blank credit hisotry with no proof of income. There were no special procedures. The procedure was that they were SOL until they built a credit history from scratch in the US.
posted by bkpiano at 7:42 PM on August 19, 2020
My parents relocated to the US in their 50’s. They were treated by every lender as having a totally blank credit hisotry with no proof of income. There were no special procedures. The procedure was that they were SOL until they built a credit history from scratch in the US.
posted by bkpiano at 7:42 PM on August 19, 2020
Wait, the OP says their husband DOES have a US credit history just no US tax history.
posted by M. at 9:38 PM on August 19, 2020
posted by M. at 9:38 PM on August 19, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses so far. My husband actually does have credit and tax history in the States. He got his first credit card in the States in 2009, and he used to work in the States so has filed American taxes at least five times (as recently as 2019). In other words, he wouldn’t be a blank slate.
To reframe, my husband won’t file US taxes for this year (we want a loan mid-next year) because he won’t need to. He’s not yet an American citizen, lives in Canada, and is working for a Canadian entity. The even narrower issue is whether his Canadian income would count towards the two years minimum banks/credit unions look for in job continuity.
My sense from the answers above is that (a) it’s case-by-case and depends heavily on the particular bank or credit union, and (b) our best bet might be the Canadian banks—but if anyone has experienced or knows how to navigate our narrow issue, we’d love to hear from you. Thanks in advance!
posted by saltypup at 9:46 PM on August 19, 2020
To reframe, my husband won’t file US taxes for this year (we want a loan mid-next year) because he won’t need to. He’s not yet an American citizen, lives in Canada, and is working for a Canadian entity. The even narrower issue is whether his Canadian income would count towards the two years minimum banks/credit unions look for in job continuity.
My sense from the answers above is that (a) it’s case-by-case and depends heavily on the particular bank or credit union, and (b) our best bet might be the Canadian banks—but if anyone has experienced or knows how to navigate our narrow issue, we’d love to hear from you. Thanks in advance!
posted by saltypup at 9:46 PM on August 19, 2020
This was a back in 2012 but I got one within a year of moving to the US as a permanent resident from Australia without any sort of credit history in the US. I had a few hiccups getting the required paperwork as Australia doesn't do credit ratings & reports in quite the same way. I provided proof I'd paid back a mortgage in Australia & got what information I could for them from my bank. We went with a local credit union & they bent over backwards to help us figure out what we needed. Now I was applying jointly with my US born husband, but he had a shocking credit history until I came along & he had a harder time getting approved than I did. Between my credit rating & having a nice downpayment & his being a US Citizen with a history of being employed & paying taxes etc we kind of balanced each other out & qualified.
I'd suggest smaller banks or credit unions as they seem to have more ability to be more flexible in what paperwork they need, or at least that is how it worked out for us.
posted by wwax at 9:57 AM on August 20, 2020
I'd suggest smaller banks or credit unions as they seem to have more ability to be more flexible in what paperwork they need, or at least that is how it worked out for us.
posted by wwax at 9:57 AM on August 20, 2020
I agree that a smaller bank or credit union is your best bet - I would guess that they will count his Canadian job, but a bigger bank might not. We had a (totally different) somewhat unusual circumstance when applying for a mortgage. Chase basically said that if we couldn’t provide all the standard documents, they couldn’t help us; there was zero flexibility. Our real estate agent suggested a small local banK, who actually looked at the documents we had, agreed that they were reasonable, and quickly approved us (and then immediately sold the loan to Chase, ha).
posted by insectosaurus at 10:07 AM on August 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by insectosaurus at 10:07 AM on August 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
It looks like RBC has a mortgage group specifically working on cross-border mortgages and a site with advice which seems like not a bad place to start.
posted by potrzebie at 1:49 PM on August 19, 2020 [2 favorites]