In US now and mortgage question

So I'm back now, got a great job, fantasy I'd income.   But told by
Bank of America (who I've been with for years) as I have not had a steady job/income in the US for 2+ years, I won't be eligible for a mortgag, despite income and credit history.  Quicken said the same thing. A local bank could finance it "in house" but for 6.7% (seems current rates are around 3.5-4%).

Anyone else repatriated recently had this problem?

I'm interested in this as well as we're moving back at the end of this year and not sure how difficult finding somewhere to live, cars, etc. will be with me being out of the country for the last 3 years and my husband not having any US credit history. Haven't been able to find anything very helpful on past threads.

Just saw what the auto text did to my origninal post - meant to say fantastic income, not fantasy...lol.

I, too, haven't found any helpful threads on this topic but will keep you informed.  Seems the interest rates are really low but the big banks just aren't lending so generously. 

On a good note, I didn't have any trouble getting a good rate on a auto loan. 

So I'm back now, got a great job, fantasy I'd income.   But told by
Bank of America (who I've been with for years) as I have not had a steady job/income in the US for 2+ years, I won't be eligible for a mortgag, despite income and credit history.  Quicken said the same thing. A local bank could finance it "in house" but for 6.7% (seems current rates are around 3.5-4%).

Anyone else repatriated recently had this problem?

Have you found a solution? I just found out we're going back very soon, too, and we had wanted to buy a house. Did your UK income while you were gone not count? Plus, we have had a small bit of US income whilst here in addition to the full-time job income in the UK. And we kept open a US bank and used US credit cards now and then. Will that help?

I was also wondering how it would work with car insurance. We didn't get a car in the UK, but for our renter's insurance we were told we couldn't have a discount for having been insured at least the last 5 years because our insurance was not in the UK. So will that same type of thing bump up our car insurance premiums in the US?

Also, do you know of a good temporary medical insurance? Ours from the employer won't kick in until a month after work starts, and we plan to arrive a couple of weeks before work starts, so that's 6 weeks we need coverage. We have worldwide travel insurance purchased here in the UK, but I don't think I'd want to rely on that alone as it probably technically ends when we no longer have a UK address.

I was told by 3 different banks the same thing basically.  Because I haven't had the same employer for the last 2 years and that has been out of the country work, I will not qualify for a "conventional" mortgage (3-4%).  I have qualified for an "in house" mortgage (higher ~6.5%) with a local bank only because they know me and my family and also the local employer I work with.  

I, too, showed proof of income over the last few years.  I have kept my credit cards and maintained a US back account since moving in 2009 to the UK.  I used my parents address the whole time as well.  I am an optometrist so have a good income and stable career.  Have a great credit score.  Have a good down payment.  Even with all those things, banks aren't going to be able to give me a good rate?  Maybe you will have better luck than me.

Auto loan and insurance was no problem at all - the bank was very willing to give me money for a car at a great rate.  I got a multi car discount since I am living with my parents right now as I went through their insurance, State Farm.  I would think if you use a company that you had before, they would know about your history and give you a good deal.  Also wondering if there is some type of letter you could get from the UK insurance company you used there stating you had a good driving record.

We don't have health insurance yet, living on our travel insurance.  We are using my husband's mum's address back in the UK.  There are several short term health care plans you can get here.  I want to say Alliance is one of them.  I was told by one agent, my UKC husband won't be covered until he has been in the country 6 months and has a full physical done here.  Will keep you updated as I am going to be getting on a health savings account soon since I am self employed.

Feel free to message me if you have any more questions.

We moved back in Aug 2010.  I am the USC and stay at home with kids.  My husband the UKC was being transferred by his company, but because it was at his request, was essentially just like being hired locally.  This is important, because his US HR was unable to tell creditors that he had been with the company for 5 years.  As far as they were concerned he was a new employee.  

We had UK accounts with HSBC and had enough in savings from the sale of our home to qualify as a premier client.  This was good because they offer a lot of perks to premiere clients, like setting up US accounts in advance of the move, taking UK credit history into account if there was a lack of US history, free international bank transfers.  We ended up getting a very competitive rate from HSBC for our mortgage, which is good because we talked to two mortgage brokers and both told us we had no chance of securing one because, I had no income and my husband had no credit history.  HSBC did require a 20% deposit, which I believe is the norm, but said that some parts of the country (FL, AZ) it's closer to 50% requirement.

Car loans - We were getting two cars.  My dad co-signed on my lease and we paid cash from savings for my husband's used car.  Once he had two months worth of paychecks under his belt, the little local bank I had kept an account with for years was willing to refinance the car for us and we got our cash back for the house...just in time!  Kind of annoying, but again we found that lenders weren't willing to work with us.  

It was a pretty stressful couple of months working all this out, but HSBC really was fantastic.  I can't praise them enough.  We are still considered a premiere client even though once we put a deposit on a house that pretty much emptied our accounts.  I am sure they will review it eventually, but until then I am happy with the perks.  You may find it easier if you, as the USC, will have employment.  

I was told by 3 different banks the same thing basically.  Because I haven't had the same employer for the last 2 years and that has been out of the country work, I will not qualify for a "conventional" mortgage (3-4%).  I have qualified for an "in house" mortgage (higher ~6.5%) with a local bank only because they know me and my family and also the local employer I work with.  

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Auto loan and insurance was no problem at all - the bank was very willing to give me money for a car at a great rate.  I got a multi car discount since I am living with my parents right now as I went through their insurance, State Farm.  I would think if you use a company that you had before, they would know about your history and give you a good deal.  Also wondering if there is some type of letter you could get from the UK insurance company you used there stating you had a good driving record.

We don't have health insurance yet, living on our travel insurance.  We are using my husband's mum's address back in the UK.  There are several short term health care plans you can get here.  I want to say Alliance is one of them.  I was told by one agent, my UKC husband won't be covered until he has been in the country 6 months and has a full physical done here.  Will keep you updated as I am going to be getting on a health savings account soon since I am self employed.

Feel free to message me if you have any more questions.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, though it's not good news about the home loan! We have good credit and zero debts, and a good income, but it sounds like that didn't help you. We also will probably just have a 5% downpayment, though we could squeeze 20% out by cashing in some IRAs if we had to. We did not own a car in the UK, so that's 5 years with no insurance in either country. I guess we'll see how that pans out.

We do have worldwide travel health insurance as I mentioned, but I think it quits if we move from the UK. Not sure I want to risk it as our US insurance doesn't kick in until a month after my husband starts work, so I've got to find transitional insurance. This is going to be a mess, isn't it?

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We had UK accounts with HSBC and had enough in savings from the sale of our home to qualify as a premier client.  This was good because they offer a lot of perks to premiere clients, like setting up US accounts in advance of the move, taking UK credit history into account if there was a lack of US history, free international bank transfers.  We ended up getting a very competitive rate from HSBC for our mortgage, which is good because we talked to two mortgage brokers and both told us we had no chance of securing one because, I had no income and my husband had no credit history.  HSBC did require a 20% deposit, which I believe is the norm, but said that some parts of the country (FL, AZ) it's closer to 50% requirement.

Car loans - We were getting two cars.  My dad co-signed on my lease and we paid cash from savings for my husband's used car.  Once he had two months worth of paychecks under his belt, the little local bank I had kept an account with for years was willing to refinance the car for us and we got our cash back for the house...just in time!  Kind of annoying, but again we found that lenders weren't willing to work with us.  

It was a pretty stressful couple of months working all this out, but HSBC really was fantastic.  I can't praise them enough.  We are still considered a premiere client even though once we put a deposit on a house that pretty much emptied our accounts.  I am sure they will review it eventually, but until then I am happy with the perks.  You may find it easier if you, as the USC, will have employment.  

We have lloyds here, so I'm guessing that won't help with getting a loan in the US? We may just have to readjust plans and rent instead of buy a house, and then pay cash for one used car if we have to, then wait a bit for the second car. We were going to wait anyhow because my US license is expired, and I wanted to get back to the issuing state where they will renew it without any exam and send it to my mother's address. Then with an active license, I can just trade it in at my new state (where they otherwise would require written and driving exams if I turned up with an expired out-of-state-license -- those seem like just too many added stresses, so I'd rather avoid it if I can).

We'd prefer to buy as the house prices seem good right now, but if we can't, we can't. My husband thinks this move will be easier than the one to the UK, but I'm not so sure. Probably a bit easier, but not massively. <sigh>

Another question: How did it work getting car insurance, as far as not having a local license (if you didn't)? My husband has an unexpired US license from another State, we're assuming he can go in and get auto insurance using that and I guess a friend's address (as we'll buy a car first thing and won't have a permanent address yet)? He can't get a license for the state we're moving to until we have certain bills in hand to prove residency, and we won't have those until we find a permanent residence.

I'm wondering how it will work getting a cellphone contract, too -- can we just sign that up to a local friend's address, or his mother's address (which is out of state)?

DH had no problem getting insured within a week or two being back in the US.  We didn't have a permanent address either and that wasn't an issue.  He only had a UK license and I think they said he "had to" get a Massachusetts license within 6 months, which he did. 

Cell phone - I was able to get one no problem, but I had kept my MA license and had a credit card bill going to my parents house.  DH was given one from work, so didn't need to get one.  Sorry no help on that front.

DH had no problem getting insured within a week or two being back in the US.  We didn't have a permanent address either and that wasn't an issue.  He only had a UK license and I think they said he "had to" get a Massachusetts license within 6 months, which he did. 

Cell phone - I was able to get one no problem, but I had kept my MA license and had a credit card bill going to my parents house.  DH was given one from work, so didn't need to get one.  Sorry no help on that front.

Thanks, it's good to know the insurance shouldn't be a problem. I guess we'll find out about phones when we get there.

Just a thought, and this may not apply to some but if you have a house in the UK and you rent it out and are able to take a reasonably substantial equity loan out of it and used that to put downpayment on US house maybe it would be big enough for bank to take on mortgage at reasonable (3.5-4% range) rates?

In future if we were to make such a move we'd consider doing this and maybe getting 30%-50% downpayment perhaps.

Other thought is in this scenario using a UK international/overseas mortgage type option I think some of the bigger banks can provide.  I'm not sure if your primary address would have to be in the UK or if you went with this method but moved to US and your primary address was there.

I'd love if any of the people on this thread could reply and say how they got on!  I'm about to embark on the same things! If any of you are still getting notices of replies to threads, please tell us how it's going!

I'd love if any of the people on this thread could reply and say how they got on!  I'm about to embark on the same things! If any of you are still getting notices of replies to threads, please tell us how it's going!

I got a local bank to offer a mortgage with 10% down. All the big banks wanted 24 months work in US before going any further.  Ended up renting. Back living in the UK now. So glad I didn't buy in the end.