Buying a house on a TN Visa

All,

I searched, but I didn't find my exact situation.

I'm on a TN Visa until 2012, and I'm marrying a US Citizen next April.

Anyhow, I'm just wondering who has had success getting a mortgage in the US as a Canadian citizen? I've got a credit score of 700 down here and will have 1 year of established credit when I put in my application, but the broker I'm dealing with says that sometimes US Banks are hesitant to loan to non-citizens.

Any advice on how others have done this would be great.

Very hesitant going by what's on here. If you've moved your tax home to the US and you have an SSN they may not even notice though because all your proof of income will look the same. Emphasis on the "may", depends on what their application forms ask for.

We got a mortgage in the US and are on a TN visa. We both have SIN numbers (as do all TN visa holders in the US). The banks were more hestitant than they are in Canada (since we have many years of established credit there) but since we had US credit cards and jobs that is what they looked at. Good Luck!!

I didn't experience to many issues per this. I am on TN status and I used my SIN in the initial process of the mortgage paper work in 2007. My Canadian Credit Report had to be pulled since the US one was less than 4 months. However, the SSN was definitely required before mortgage was advanced.

I'm also a TN-1 in the US and I'm thinking of purchasing a home. I ran my credit scores in the US using my SSN and the scores came out less than 700. The reason for this I believe is that I have less than 6 months of credit history. I called a number of big banks and they said that they will not run my scores in Canada. With my US score, they said I would have to take a mortgage at a higher rate. Are there any specific banks / lenders that will make the effort to run the Canadian credit scores?

My Daughter deals with Bank of America as a student. When she was speaking with her rep at TD-Canada Trust about a transfer, they told her that was their sister bank in the U.S.

It may not hurt to ask your Canadian bank if they have an affiliation like that with an American bank.

I have a couple of quick questions:

I am a Canadian working in the USA with TN Status (expiry 2012). My wife will join me in the USA in Feb2010 when we will sever our ties to Canada. We rent in Canada and therefore do not own a home in Canada. We will terminate rent of our apartment in Canada in Feb2010. We will buy a home in the USA in March2010.

Question#1) Are we elgible for the $8K tax credit in the USA if this will be our first home purchase. [given I am a Canadian living in the USA on a TN work visa]

Question#2) Is the interest paid on the mortgage eligible as a tax deduction on my USA taxes? [given I am on a TN status work visa].

Yes to both. If otherwise eligible for the credit, you can get it on TN.

I see you're on a visa through 2012, but how long have you been here?

When I applied for my mortgage, I was only on a one-year renewable TN, but I'd been here 7 years so they said at that point I wouldn't be treated any differently than an American.

Granted, that was 2 years ago, before this whole "housing crisis"...

I have a couple of quick questions:

also canadian with TN until 2012, plan to buy a house.Question: what happens if after 3 or more years i sell the house and make a profit? Who is going to tax me?
Also, TN says we cannot make money, except from our job.?
thanks, dan

I am a Canadian working in the USA with TN Status (expiry 2012). My wife will join me in the USA in Feb2010 when we will sever our ties to Canada. We rent in Canada and therefore do not own a home in Canada. We will terminate rent of our apartment in Canada in Feb2010. We will buy a home in the USA in March2010.

Question#1) Are we elgible for the $8K tax credit in the USA if this will be our first home purchase. [given I am a Canadian living in the USA on a TN work visa]

Question#2) Is the interest paid on the mortgage eligible as a tax deduction on my USA taxes? [given I am on a TN status work visa].