getting home loan in new area

pcdreams · #1 04/08/11, 11:15 AM

We are looking to move across the country (from MO to VT).

We've found a fixer-up we like with some acreage for around 50k. Problem is how do we get a loan for it. The agents I've talked with say unless we already have employment in the area we're pretty much SOL. And of course it's almost impossible to get employment in the area if you don't have an address in the area. Most of the companies we've applied to don't seem interested in even entertaining the idea of reviewing an application from an out of state party.

We've thought about renting but same thing there. Not to mention, how you'd ever save money for anything when 1/2 or more would go to rent..

Sigh.. I'm just so frustrated with the whole situation. Been trying to relocate for the better part of 15 years. Sometimes it just seems it'll never happen.

bluemoonluck · #2 04/08/11, 12:56 PM

Do you own the home you're in now? If so you can apply to make the VT purchase your "second home". You may also be able to secure a loan to use the second house as an investment property. The interest rates are higher and the home insurance is higher but it is a way to circumvent the system.

Once you get moved to the area and sell your old house, you can refi the one in VT to be your primary residence.

pcdreams · #3 04/08/11, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluemoonluck

Do you own the home you're in now? If so you can apply to make the VT purchase your "second home". You may also be able to secure a loan to use the second house as an investment property. The interest rates are higher and the home insurance is higher but it is a way to circumvent the system.

Once you get moved to the area and sell your old house, you can refi the one in VT to be your primary residence.

wish this was the case. We sold our home about 2 years ago, were ready to move then. Things came up (sick in-laws) so we had to stay here. Long story short, the meager $$ from the house sell is gone (bills). and to top it off we're both out of work.

bluemoonluck · #4 04/08/11, 01:39 PM

You may still be able to get a loan on the property as an "investment".

I was pre-approved for a loan out here in Utah before I even had a job (I had the verbal offer, but no written contract). I came out and house-hunted on the same trip that I met with the employer and toured the building, spent a few days working with the staff and got a written contract then. But I actually made an offer on the house before I had the written contract, and had no issues being pre-approved as a relocator

Yvonne's hubby · #5 04/08/11, 01:50 PM

Out of state buyers was my primary focus when I was in the real estate biz, and you are right... financing was always the major hurdle... particularly with farms and other rural properties. First... most mortgage companies wont finance farms or acreage. Second... banks are not allowed to hold out of state properties as collateral in most cases.
Third.... banks want 20 percent down, and for you to have been on the same job for a couple years. Owner financing became the number one method I used. If we could get the people on the property using owner financing... short term usually.... then the "transplants" had time to get themselves established in the area, apply for a conventional bank loan and get on with life. What you may need to do is to discuss this situation with your realtor in the state where you are moving to. If they do not have properties listed with owner financing available, perhaps you can convince the realtor to purchase the property and owner finance it to you on a short term arrangement (three to five years). I made a lot of those deals. It costs you a bit more but it gets you where you are wanting to be.

mnn2501 · #6 04/08/11, 02:02 PM

You need the job first. Do you know anyone where you are going to that you could stay with while finding a job?
When I moved cross country, I mailed out a bunch of resumes and in the cover letter I stated I would be moving to Dallas on May 1st but would be in the area the week of April 15 - 21 available for interviews. I flew out and stayed with a relative for that week and I got a number of interviews and was hired that week, flew back to FL and packed and moved between the 22nd and the 30th and started work on May 1st.

Lease with option to buy would be another consideration, but without a job its going to be hard - landlords will probably want a lot of $$ up front for someone unemployed - I know I would.

po boy · #7 04/08/11, 04:26 PM

Two issues.

1.You must have a job local to the home you want to purchase and may have to provide some paycheck stubs before you close.

2. Fixer upper. Depends on the condition of the home, you may have problems getting financing. You might look into FHA 203K financing if you meet #1.

Good Luck!

FarmersDaughter · #8 04/08/11, 05:01 PM

I would highly recommend getting a job in Vermont before you move there. A lot of people find jobs in different areas of the country, so I don't think it's necessarily so that companies aren't willing to look at out of state applicants. It may just be that the job market is very tight, there are a lot of applicants, and you just haven't been the best qualified of the applicants for the jobs you've applied for. (Sorry if that sounds harsh...it's not intended to be rude).

Maybe it will help to put in your cover letter that you're interested in relocating specifically to Vermont, so that it doesn't just seem like you're someone who's sending resumes out to anywhere in the country. Explain that you've been there and have been wanting to relocate there for some time.

Having lived in Vermont, I can tell you that getting a job there is not easy, so I'd make sure I had one before I moved there. Otherwise, what are you going to live on if you move across the country and can't find work? It is also not cheap to live in Vermont. Compared to the Midwest, I found almost everything to be more expensive (utilities, groceries, rent, etc.) so a decent paying job is a must.

Even though you think renting is a waste, it might be your best option once you find employment. It will give you a chance to get to know the area better and decide exactly where you want to live. A few years ago you probably could have obtained a mortgage with very little down and without proof of income, but since the housing crash, banks are very strict about their lending. It will be difficult to obtain a loan without proof of income and 20% down. So renting might be the best way to get established in the area and get established with a local bank. Even if it takes a while to save the money because a chunk of your income is going to rent, at least you'll be in the area that you want to live.

Best wishes to you.

Callieslamb · #9 04/08/11, 06:35 PM

Move where you want to go and rent for a while until you find the job. Then apply for a home.

Jerngen · #10 04/09/11, 01:57 PM

We've taken off and moved to places unknown several times. If you want it bad enough, you'll make it work.
Sell everything you can, give away what you can't, and only take the essentials with you. No more then one U-haul trailer's worth.
One of the places we moved to we had a very hard time finding a place to live. We ended up being homeless in a campground (with a baby) for four months before we were able to get a place to move into (just in time for winter) and that ended up being a property that had been vacant for years and had no appliances. Sounds rough now but it wasn't really that big of a deal. We do not regret a single one of our adventures!!!

I'm counting in my head and I've moved across the country nine times now.
We've always been poor financial wise but due to our choices, rich experiences wise. Life is what you make it. Just do it.

(If a campground is to "rough" for you then rent a room for a few weeks. Or a studio apartment. Just get yourself there, once there you'll be able to open the other doors that need opening)

Joshie · #11 04/09/11, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcdreams

and to top it off we're both out of work.

How would you pay a mortgage when you're not employed? If your money is gone, what would you use for a downpayment?Around here, they want proof of your income for the next three years. Banks would not be good stewards of their money if they loaned money to those without steady income and a good work history. It's nearly impossible to get a mortgage on acreage over five to 10.

Seems to me that you're jumping way ahead of yourselves.

pcdreams · #12 04/09/11, 03:31 PM

we've got a little camp trailer we're living in now. Been looking for work here for the past 6 months and nothing. Wife is CNA so you wouldn't think it'd be that hard.. She applied for 6 jobs at the hospital last week.. not one bit of interest. She's been doing this kind of work for 7-8 years so it's not like she's new to it.

I think If we could get to working here and save for a month or two, I'd just pull the trailer up there (likely be $1000 in fuel) and live in it until we could work something out. Just dunno how that would work in the New England winter.

The biggest issue I suppose is money (isn't it always). Even when we were both working full time, we were hardly able to pay the bills, and we're pretty frugal. Long story short we'd been scrimping and saving every penny for nearly 15 years and had about 8k put away. Sold the house and that gave us another 10k. We moved in with the in-laws because they got to where they needed help. Lived there about two years. They we're unappreciative and we'd had enough. Unfortunately by then our nest egg had run dry.

Don't know. About all I can figure is we're going to have to give up the dream and be city dwelling sheep. Sad thing is I'm just to the point I don't give a S--- anymore.

Use to be if you worked full time you'd make an honest living. Now you've got to work 2-3 full time jobs and still just scrape by.

Scott SW Ohio · #13 04/09/11, 03:57 PM

My brother wanted to buy some bare land adjacent to his place, and I had some savings making hardly anything in CDs. I gave him the money for the land and he paid me back over ten years. He paid me more interest than my "safe" investment would have yielded, but less than a bank or farm credit agency would have charged (plus, no fees for the loan). If you have a sibling or in-law with conservative investments, maybe you could both come out ahead by doing something like this.

pcdreams · #14 04/09/11, 04:10 PM

Well. I know I can likely get a job driving a truck. Get one of those deals where they train you and such. Got to be tied in with em for a year or two but maybe they'd have a place there I could transfer to.

I got a cousin that drives and makes good money. about a grand a week. which is about 2-3 times what you can make working full time around here.

Never home which stinks.. but I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

FarmersDaughter · #15 04/09/11, 05:55 PM

You mentioned that your wife is a CNA. What was your career before being laid off? What area of Vermont are you wanting to move to? (You've mentioned in past posts, but I don't remember). Just asking in case someone on here could give you a heads up to jobs available in the area where you're looking.

Have you considered looking at temp agencies in Vermont? Or a recruiting agency in Vermont? What about having a professional look over your resumes and give you feedback? Some simple changes to your resumes might help you land a new job.

Scott SW Ohio · #16 04/09/11, 07:52 PM

Vermont is nice and all, but there are a few drawbacks as other posters have mentioned. What made you decide to settle there and pass up other potentially wonderful places - such as Southwest Ohio, for instance???

pcdreams · #17 04/09/11, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott SW Ohio

Vermont is nice and all, but there are a few drawbacks as other posters have mentioned. What made you decide to settle there and pass up other potentially wonderful places - such as Southwest Ohio, for instance???

Well. I've been intrigued by VT since I did a report about it in High School, some 18-19 years ago. We've been there multiple times and love it. We've done a lot of talking to folks who live there, not the touristy areas but rural areas and individuals not associated with business. We seem to fit better there than with the folks here. More open minded .. I'll leave it at that so as not to start a political debate.. Also climate is much more what we like. I understand winters are brutal but I can stand the -40 better than the 110 and we LOVE snow. Something we don't get much of here.

We do own a spot of land there but, as best we can determine from the local town clerk, contractors, etc.. it's going to be unreasonable to do much other than use it for hunting or cross country skying. 3 miles from power(which we knew, planned to do solar) and septic/well in the neighborhood of 35-40k(which we did not expect).

Thought about putting the camper there but once again not sure what we'd do about water/septic and winter in a camper.

I thought about using it as collateral toward a property but I still doubt I'd be able to get the loan. It's assessed at 24k and the house/land we're looking at is 50k. It's a fixer up on 8-9 acres. It's got an attached barn etc.. would be nice if I could drop about that much more into it fixing it up (over time and doing it myself of course).

pcdreams · #18 04/09/11, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

Out of state buyers was my primary focus when I was in the real estate biz, and you are right... financing was always the major hurdle... particularly with farms and other rural properties. First... most mortgage companies wont finance farms or acreage. Second... banks are not allowed to hold out of state properties as collateral in most cases.
Third.... banks want 20 percent down, and for you to have been on the same job for a couple years. Owner financing became the number one method I used. If we could get the people on the property using owner financing... short term usually.... then the "transplants" had time to get themselves established in the area, apply for a conventional bank loan and get on with life. What you may need to do is to discuss this situation with your realtor in the state where you are moving to. If they do not have properties listed with owner financing available, perhaps you can convince the realtor to purchase the property and owner finance it to you on a short term arrangement (three to five years). I made a lot of those deals. It costs you a bit more but it gets you where you are wanting to be.

excellent Idea.. something I certainly hadn't thought of.

I know the folks that have this place and it belonged to their mother. I don't know if she passed or went to a retirement home or ? I do know the place was on the market for $75k which was far to much (IMHO). We had stead work at the time and thus made a low offer and they came back with $50k (which is what we'd hoped would happen). Anyway long story short we couldn't get financing because we didn't live/work in VT. That's been a while back and it's still on the market so it might be worth putting it out there as an offer. No one lives there now and they are still paying the taxes on it.

pcdreams · #19 04/09/11, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmersDaughter

You mentioned that your wife is a CNA. What was your career before being laid off? What area of Vermont are you wanting to move to? (You've mentioned in past posts, but I don't remember). Just asking in case someone on here could give you a heads up to jobs available in the area where you're looking.

Have you considered looking at temp agencies in Vermont? Or a recruiting agency in Vermont? What about having a professional look over your resumes and give you feedback? Some simple changes to your resumes might help you land a new job.

I worked in technical support for HP. I/We didn't get laid off. We had both put in our notice and were ready to roll out of here when the in-laws got sick. The plan was for her to look after them and Me to get back on there. But by then (couple weeks) the positions had been filled. Still trying to get on there but no luck so far.

Anyway. I know computers well (not programming but hardware and windows) have A+, Network+, Security+ certifications plus an associates in Network Technology. Real problem is lack of on the job experience. I had my own shop for a couple years but they don't count that. So I have 1 1/2 years of experience I can prove.

I suck at sales but am willing to do about anything else as long as I can make enough to get where I want to be.

We like the NEK but Montpelier is likely more realistic.

I've talked with KelleyIT there but not much luck. I've been checking out the Vermont Joblink and 7 days. I haven't had anyone look at my resume but know of some place (with the state I think) with our local job service where I can get it done for free).

I guess I've been a little put off because I've called a few of the places I've applied to there and been flat out told they won't hire me because I don't live there.

Freya · #20 04/09/11, 11:10 PM

You need to get your resume on Dice and search IT jobs on there!!! Dice is the best, Monster and CareerBuilder would help too.

Might also want to consider going back to school and getting a Bach degree as most higher IT jobs want more schooling. If you have your Security+ you should look into attempting to get a CISSP. It's a brutal test though but beyond worth it if you can pass it!! And if you are heading in the network niche many schools can get you a CISCO cert which would help tremendously too!

Maybe sell the land you have so that you have money to have more options?

Can you try another part of MO first? Maybe wife can find work that way?