Thursday, February 03, 2011

Foreign National Mortgages Are Back for Las Vegas Homes!

During the recent mortgage melt down, banks had suspended all foreign national financing except for Canadians buying second homes in the United States. But as of last week, foreign national mortgage financing is once again available for citizens of other countries wanting to buy vacation homes in Las Vegas.

Most Las Vegas mortgage lenders, like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, don’t have these programs available, but there are now a few smaller “rising star” lenders that have foreign national funding for second homes. The basic guidelines of the programs are as follows:

1. Can only be for a second home, no investment properties
2. Buyer cannot own any other property in the United States
3. 30% down payment
4. An international credit report with acceptable credit scores – must be paid for in advance (about $200)
5. Buyer must have 24 months of credit history
6. $417k maximum loan amount
7. Debt ratios – housing debt ratio cannot exceed 36% of total income and total debt cannot exceed 45% of income
8. Buyers with diplomatic immunity are not eligible

The best news is that the interest rates and closing costs are excellent – very comparable to what a US citizen would pay. Over the past few years we have had hundreds of calls from the UK and Australia from buyers who wanted to purchase Las Vegas real estate because the exchange rates are great and the prices are so low. Most were willing to put up at least 50% for a down payment. But many were unable to come up with all cash for a purchase. Now second home ownership is once again affordable for these buyers with only a 30% down payment.

So call up all your out of the country friends and let them know the good news. (Maybe they’ll let you stay in their purchase as a thank you!) And tell them to give us a call at 702-985-7654 so we can get them hooked up with one of these great loans.