Thinking of buying a house in Canada

[mameelynn]

hi all!  I'm not sure if this is he right place to ask this but here goes anyway. I'm a Canadian married to an American and we live in the US right now but are about three weeks away from sending in all our paperwork for Outland immigration. we have been thinking and looking at homes for sale in Nova Scotia where we are thinking of settling and we are wondering if anyone knows if there is any way we could buy a house there now using my husbands current job and credit for a mortgage. we had been planin on all of us staying in the US until he got PR but our oldest child will be starting school in he fall and we want to get all settled even if it is just me and the kids and my husband comes to visit us and maybe stay till PR comes in.  Anyone else buy a house this way? any thoughts would be a huge help!  Thanks!

[AmericaninQuebec]

My husband is a mortgage rep for a local bank and I know from him that unless your husband has already established a credit history in Canada it will be very difficult for him to get a mortgage, let alone one at a decent rate. That said, since you would, I assume, also be on the mortgage you would likely not have as much of a problem. Basically you'd probably be relying on your past Canadian credit history and his proof of income on your mortgage application. You should definitely call one of the local banks and get put in touch with one of their mortgage reps. They'll be able to tell you more.

Legally speaking I don't believe that there are any barriers to him buying a second home in Canada (I know other Americans who have), but I don't know if there are extra fees or taxes on top of it or not.

[Nizana]

Try cibc, I know they offer mortgages to newcomers and foreign residents, you'll have to provide information about your income and like letters from your bank in the US but it shouldnt be impossible..

[Canooknic]

BMO were going to use our UK credit rating when we spoke to them about getting a mortgage.  We've actually gone with RBC on a new-build and they took our UK details too so I guess they did the same