Foreign National

A foreign national mortgage is a type of loan that is designed to help individuals from other countries purchase property in the United States.
A foreign national buyer is someone who is not a resident of the United States.   When a foreign national home buyer’s want to purchase Florida property, they cannot use a traditional mortgage.  This is where the foreign national mortgage comes into play.  With this type of loan, they can purchase a property to live or a property to be used as an investment property.
Down payment and asset requirements are higher for foreign national buyers.  The average down payment is 30% – 40% of the purchase price.   The lender will also require a foreign national buyer to have reserve assets (in addition to the down payment) equal to 12 – 24 months of the mortgage payment.
Credit documentation is required for foreign national buyer’s.  Lenders prefer a credit report from the home country along with a credit reference letter from a financial institution.   However, some lenders will accept 3 credit reference letters as acceptable credit documentation.  The foreign national credit report is much like the U.S. credit report excluding the scores as their scoring systems are different from our own.