Something went wrong. It should take all of a few hours. Are you using a local mortgage broker?

Sorry, I mixed up my terms!

What I asked for was pre-approval and that's what I've been waiting for.

One bank had already "pre-qualified" me in one or two days; the contact at another said don't bother with pre-qualification, as it's meaningless.

The mortgage broker I initially contacted said he couldn't do anything for me as I have no US credit history.

As long as they have all of the required paperwork and info from you, it should only take a day or two. If this lender has everything they asked for, I would move on to a different lender.

With no US credit history, the mortgage broker said no dice until I establish residency and credit and wait a year.

You've only talked to one broker and one bank?

As I mentioned above, the seemingly knowledgeable mortgage broker (referred to me by my US real estate agent) said no US bank would be interested without a recent US credit history. So I contacted two of the three US banks that are owned by Canadian banks and advertise that they can use Canadian credit histories.

US banks charge a stiff premium when they deign to lend to Canadians buying US vacation property. I suppose I should check if the same rule applies to dual citizens (I am one) re-establishing primary residency in the US.

You could use home equity loan to purchase the vacation home in the US. That would save you some troubles.

Except it's to be a primary residence.

PM me if you are interested. I can send you an excellent lender that loans in the area to Canadian borrowers.

Worthy,

What you are looking for is a lender that funds Alternative Credit Score loans. These loans are based upon things as rent, utility bills, monthly insurance payments, child care, rent-to-own agreements and past mortgage payments. Churchill Mortgage, Lending Tree, Fifth - Third, I believe are some lenders that are doing these loans. Churchill I know is. Just Google Alternative Credit Score Lenders and go from there.

With a 798 Beacon, seems odd. But whatever works!

As long as they have all of the required paperwork and info from you, it should only take a day or two.

Turns out they were missing several of the blank and form pages ofmy Notices of Assessment, the Canada Revenue Agency's assessment of the taxpayer's filed return.

Thanks for the prompt!

Got my pre-approval--nine business day turnaround. Good for 120 days.

Not unexpectedly, as a self-employed person, it was half what I asked for based on their assessment of income, which, in turn, was half the reported personal income on our tax returns. Still beats paying cash!

Please inform everyone where you got the pre qualification.

Congrats worthy!

Thanks!

BMO Harris Bank.

The challenge now is to sell our current house as a building lot in a down market.

Thanks Worthy. Did you have to go with Alternative Credit Score Financing, or were they able to finance conventionally?

Conventional, as they had access to and used Canadian credit scoring.

Good to know. Thanks.