Jobs & Money Detail
American mortgage: Case study
Diane Heath explains how she and friend Kirsty Radley secured their US mortgage.
In November 2004, we purchased a condo in Tampa, Florida, which was financed by extending our UK mortgage and for some time we have been working towards buying into a franchise and getting to the US through the E-2 route.
After reading Nick Clark's article with Mark and Teresa Jones in Emigrate America (May 2007 issue) it was like a bolt of lightning! Initially, the funding for our business would be released when we sold our UK house but things have been on hold, as we are not quite ready to sell. The article gave us the idea to put the condo up for sale and get a small mortgage, for a house, to release the capital and allow the emigration process wheels to start creaking forward! We had already been communicating with Matt Selby at Selby Corporation and he gave us the details for Stephen Parnell at Lynxbanc.
Before we left for our holiday we researched a few locations that were within our budget and decided we liked several properties on a particular development in Land O Lakes. We arrived at Tampa on Thursday evening, viewed a number of houses on Friday, went back for a second viewing on Saturday and put in an offer, which was accepted, on Monday. The Inspection was carried out on Thursday; we picked up a U-Haul truck on Friday, and moved in that afternoon!
In the meantime, we had been e-mailing Stephen and between him and our estate agents – they pretty much took care of everything. Stephen was always the voice of reason: he exuded the whole Florida laid-back vibe and told us that we were being too English when we were panicking unnecessarily! From the first viewing to closing, the whole process took approximately six weeks and even this was delayed slightly due to the time taken to transfer UK funds to the US!
Having been through the mortgage process several times in the UK, the main differences seem to be that in the US, faxes, emails, photocopies and scanned documents are a much more accepted way of doing business and Stephen even gave us his cell number if we needed to contact him during the holiday weekend. In addition, the Realtor does all of the negotiation and arranges the title transfers, inspections, etcetera eliminating the need for finding additional surveyors.
To ensure a smooth and speedy process we have the following tips for fellow Brits: Get a mortgage pre-approval from a trusted source, before you start viewing. This will not only speed up the process but, in the current climate, many sellers will not even entertain an offer without some proof of finances. Do as much research as possible on the location of potential homes. This not only helps the Realtor to find you exactly what you want, it, helps you to be realistic about what is within your budget and, finally, it's a buyers market! Many sellers are willing to consider serious offers, but don't be insulting.
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