I am buying all cash as I am a non resident and have no credit history in america. If I buy will a major lender HELOC or mortage at least 25% of value? Any comments?

banks have a $ limit for helocs now. I think Chase is 250k max.

If you have enough cash to buy a home outright, why do you need credit?

NYCMatt,

I can see where a person without credit history in the US would be forced to put all cash into a purchase, but perhaps with all available money and the person may want some cash on hand for other expenses.

You should have been able to borrow 25% for the purchase. The low ltv would have mitigated the other factors.
The HELOC taken out after the fact won't have the same deductions, plus the bank could reduce the line of credit on you at the worst possible time.

The lack of credit history is super annoying. You can have impeccable credentials in every other respect, but without a credit history it seems that they can't enter your numbers into the computer and have it spit out any type of loan. You can be making 6 figures and still have to secure a $1000 cc. But if you happen to have a bunch of credit cards, then no problem... Really stupid. Getting a mortgage in the States is incredibly annoying, time consuming and expensive (in terms of ridiculous little fees, here there and everywhere).

Any case, don't bother with banks, but private lenders can help you, but the rates you get will be crap. If you can just pay all cash though do it as it is a massive hassle that you really do not want to have any part of.

Ever tried getting a mtge in Canada, ottawa? Same deal. You move to a different country, you need to establish credit.

As a possible reason someone who can afford all cash to take a loan, all cash buyer will beat out anyone else who wants to take out a loan, and get the best pricing, and then to take advantage of the low loan interest rates in the US. 4% fixed for 30 years is ridiculous. I can then put it in the bank somewhere else and get 5% and then invest it in another property if I wan.

If it makes you guys feel any better, in Japan, the banks have been issued this directive by the national government: when calculating a potential borrower's credit score, if their nationality isn't Japanese and they don't yet have permanent residency, take whatever score they would have, and multiply by zero.

A huge amount of savings; many years of direct salary deposits into your bank; nothing can help you. At one point my bank was offering me a credit line of just $1400 despite having $125,000 on deposit in my savings account with them, accrued from nine years of salary.

You'd think the government would want to prop up RE prices, and the banks would want to find more people to extend credit to, by not excluding any potential buyers!

Caonima, if that question is directed at me, the answer is that I just continued to live on my starting salary of about $28k per year even after getting a couple of raises, saving about a quarter to a third of what I earned, year in and year out, right there in that bank.

Yes, I can pay cash but wanted to take advantage of the low rates and long fixed period. The money I would be paying back in 10 years will be essentially worthless. A well known bank's private mortgage division turned me down even for a small mortgage even though my financial position very positive vs. the mortgage I wanted! Yes, very annoying. I never would have thought it possible to be rejected.

If it is a co-op then the board will have to give approval for any mortgage post purchase - and that is far from a given.

Really? Once you have bought you can't get a mortgage without board approval? I thought I knew most things. What about lowering an offer once you have offered because it is cash?

Mr. know it all, you can do whatever you want until you sign the contract.

phsiao, want to share with us where you're getting 5% on your money?

Also, explain to me how the math on a 4% amortizing loan actually works, cause you're paying a whole lot more than 4% in the early years...

So simple...yet so not.

If you are unaware of the various aspects of co-op ownership then perhaps you should familiarize yourself with what that entails before attempting to buy a co-op.

We can more than likely accomodate you if you are looking to get less than 50% financing. We would need to establish a non traditional credit report for you proving that you have made on time payments in your country of origin. Please email me to discuss.

Jim McPartland
jmcpartland@primelending.com
212.257.7549