First Time Home Buyer! Immigrant, Clueless.

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

Moved to USA in december 2013.  We have stable jobs now and dont feel like spending ~2000/mo in rent as we feel its a waste of money. We have been looking for houses in 270-400k ranges ( i know the range is big but we are not too sure if we should spend too much). We have liked a home thats listed at 330k. The realtor told us to make an offer of 290k . So yeah thats where we are at right now.

I have absolutely no idea about how to proceed now. The people i know told me to go to chase bank and get prequalified but i have realised I should be shopping around. I have absolutely no idea where i should be going. I have chase bank, Bank of America, Quicken in mind right now.

My income is in 180s  and credit score on CK is 698 and 704. It was in 740s but we bought two new cars in last  4 months and the scores have dropped. The plan to buy the home came up in past few weeks and we would like to close before september 30th before our lease is up.

My location is Downers Grove,IL if it matters. Putting down 20% on whatever we get.

Should we go for a fixed loan, should we get an ARM , I have no idea. I have always bought things on cash even my propery back in the country i migrated from. This is my 3rd loan ( after the cars) in 50 years of my existence!

[Lemmus]

...theres not enough info in your post to provide a sound answer ...read the "Do I Qualify" sticky at the top of the forum and post the info here

...a decent realtor will be able to point you to lenders that he has had success with ...the big banks tend to be more conservative ...you need a lender familiar with your type of situation

...CK credit scores are educational only and worse than meaningless for your purposes ...mortgage lenders use the FICO mortgage scores ...there is another sticky at the top of the forum that explains the differences and where best to obtain them

...w/o knowing the details it would appear you may have less than 2 yrs on the job here in addition to being a recent immigrant ...those items must be addressed first ...it really depends on what the details are ...recent immigrants can get a mortgage if their dp/assets are strong and their background can be satisfactorily documented ...hth