Hi guys, has anyone got any experience of buying a house in America? I have just emigrated out here to be with my Mrs and am looking at buying a house by June 2018.
I'm looking at a budget of between £150,000 - £200,000 (I'm in the Mid-West so can do OK with that) but with property taxes, any more and I may get stung in the future as they are so high.
Does anybody have experience on other costs other than the deposit, and as I am fresh faced in America, I obviously have no credit score at the moment; how quickly can I bump that up if I get a credit card and pay everything off on time? I really can not stand the vicious rent cycle, so the sooner I can put my money towards actually owning the property, the better!
Alright mate, I moved to the U.S on a visa, got a green card and then bought a house (a flat /condo actually). It took me about three years to build a credit score to qualify for a Mortgage - but that was 8 years ago so maybe it's easier now?
If I remember correctly the seller pays the real estate fees? But there were loads of other Admin fees, appraisal fees, mortgage arrangement fees and taxes and a proportion of the Home owners fees, for my building, which very quickly added up (
to over 5 grand), I had to get 2 separate mortgages because I was seen as a bad risk so that might be why it was so much. But it was still worth it because of the tax break on the interest paid. Good Luck!
(PS The credit score thing is vexing isn't it, I think you have the right strategy in buying on cards and paying them off. My one tip is American Express gave me a card before any of the other companies, and that took me a while. And get some utility bills in your name).