Can an Australian get a loan in US for home?

Below is the general synopsis:

"To confirm my status, I am an American citizen and permanent resident of Australia. My income is derived solely from my own business here in Sydney.

I am interested in confirming whether I can qualify for a loan through a US lender to purchase a home for my mother to live in."

Thanks for any and all information! :slight_smile:

Im not positive but I dont see why you couldnt, as long as you have enough postive cashflow and credit you’d be fine.

Thanks for your reply. My question is whether Australian credit and doc’s would be fine?

Purspeed,

I just closed two investment property loans here in the US for Australian citizens.

One loan was a no ratio loan (2 years self employment history in Australia) with 6 months of principal/interest/taxes/insurance verifiable in an Australian based checking account. The other loan was a complete no doc loan.

Your situations is just a bit different but along the same way of verifying. Since you have US citizenship you’ll still be able to qualfiy for the majority of loan programs available here in the US. I have this exact same situation presently for prospective client right now. What the lenders have said is that unless we are using the “foreign national program” which have restrictive ltvs (lvrs), then we could not use the employment history. Which means no full doc, stated, or no ratio loans. However, they can do a no doc loan at 90%.

All assets used for downpayment and closing cost must come from a US based checking account.

Do you have a US account opened? Also, since you have a ss#, do you know what your scores are?

This is possible, I’ve been checking for the last week.

Hi Ben,

Well thank you for that invaluable information.

I don’t think that there is an US account open and credit score is being checked on.

If you have any additional info that you wish to share, that would be wonderful. :slight_smile:

You are seeking a lender that provides financing to foreign nationals (there are plenty of us so don’t fret).

Plan on putting down anywhere between 20-30% down, depending on how you plan on documenting your income and assets.

You have the litter to pick from as it pertains to loan program type; you can opt for long term, short term fixed programs as well as Option ARMs.

Guidelines tend to be slightly different, but you can expect to provide:

  • A copy of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) document
  • A copy of your individual Tax Identification number (ITIN).
  • A copy of a valid and unexpired passport
  • A US credit report is required if available. If you don’t have a credit score, I will require:
  • 3 original bank reference letters from financial institutions located in the country of origin;
    or
  • 1 original credit reference letter from a large, internationally known financial institution.
  • Proof that sufficient funds (VOD; verfication of deposit) have been deposited into a U.S. bank account prior to closing.

  • Documentation requirements for checking accounts, savings accounts, Certificates of Deposit, Money Market Funds, stocks, bonds, and Mutual Funds are as follows:

  • Written Verification of Deposit for each account with current and average balance for the last 2 months;
    Or
  • Copies of statements for each account for the 2 most recent months.

Foreign national lending is not the standard vanilla lending program; make sure that your advisor is well versed in both non-permanent alien residency and no-resident alien lending guidelines.

Regards,

Scott Miller

Just to clarify, this was for a “US citizen”. There are a handful of lenders that will give the same terms (ltv, rate…etc) that anyone here in the US would get for this scenario.

FYI - To those reading that are truly foreign nationals living in other country and wanting to buy investment properties here in the US:

  • Up to 90% is available
  • You can do this under stated income, no ratio, and no doc (even up to 90%). When doing reduced documentation loans, normally here in the US, lenders will be satisifed with just a CPA letter. They also have internal verifications for verifying the business. This internal verfication process is not always possible for other countries so they require a secondary source of self employment verification…ie…business registration documents. (not with all lenders)
  • as Scott mentioned, you dont need a social security # or US credit, only the letters referenced; however, if you have been issued a ss# then credit will need to be pulled.

Not all loan programs and lenders will require you to deposit funds for closing into a US bank account.

If you do need a US bank account, plan on getting this opened as early as possible. There are only about 5 US banks that offer accounts to foreign nationals. Some of these banks can take up to 2 weeks.

If purchasing, always be sure to ask how long the seller has been on title. As a rule of thumb, 90 days minimum. Some foreign national lenders will require 6 months.

Also, a solid title company who has experience closing itnernational deal will be required. A mortgage consultant that specializes in these can make recommendations. Depending on the loan program you may be able to have a power of attorney (poa) here in the US sign for you. If not using a poa, then you’ll need to have the documents emailed to you (letter size/legal size paper both required). Most lenders also have specific instructions on where to have notarized, …ie…US Embassy or Consulate’s Office. In Australia, this can cost up to $800 per loan as it is not a normal service like here in the US. Best to check on this early on too. Plan on about a 3 day delivery of documents back to the title company. Lender will not be able to fund until they are back.

Escrow accounts for taxes and insurance will be required.

There are also hard money lenders available to you that can fund rehab loans based upon the after repaired value.

In my first email reply to this topic (US citizen living in Australia), I noted that 90% was only available as a no doc because of employment verfication.

That is incorrect after discussing with a couple other lenders.

90% stated and no ratio can be done. For a self employed client, they must have been in the same business for at least 2 years.

In the event that a 2 year history of self employment can not be verified then a no doc loan would be required. I’m still waiting on verfication if this can be done under the US citizen loan. If not, a foreign national program at 90% should be possible but corresponding rate will apply.