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In Reply to: to answer your questions posted by need help on March 14, 2005 at 18:53:42:
As the VP of a Mortgage brokerage I can tell you this, renting is a waste of investment money. However, you've got to be able to live somewhere and there are some simple steps to purchasing a home in the US that must be noted. #1 Time to build your credit and to raise your fico score – meaning? Get yourself an American credit card, not Japanese, and pay every bill on time. You might need to start by going to wamu.com and purchasing a $500 secured credit card. This tedious process of building your credit will probably take a minimum of 2 years for a 0 -20% down loan. #2 Save up for a down payment. 20% down is always the best, 10% down will due, and 0% down will give you a very high monthly payment.
You could also come in with cash and not have to worry about financing. Just remember that you have to declare anything over $10,000 you bring across the border.
Go slow, get it right and don't be ashamed of having to rent to get over here. Remember that no credit is better than bad credit and it’s harder to re-build credit than it is to build it. Pay all your credit card bills on time and try not to max out your credit cards. Feel free to email me at
