A mortgage to a non resident is called a Foreign National Mortgage loan. A foreign national

Foreign national

Foreign national is a term used to describe a person who is not a citizen of the host country in which he or she is residing or temporarily sojourning. In Canada, a foreign national is defined as someone who is not a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada...

 who is not a resident of the United States will in many cases seek to own real estate. Financing real estate is generally done by US mortgage

Mortgage loan

A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 companies and banks to United States citizens.

Lenders also offer loans to non citizens. They may be resident aliens, temporary residents or other classifications of either temporary or permanent status.

Down payments

Down payment

Down payment

Down payment is a payment used in the context of the purchase of expensive items such as a car and a house, whereby the payment is the initial upfront portion of the total amount due and it is usually given in cash at the time of finalizing the transaction.A loan is then required to make the full...

 requirements are usually higher for foreign national borrowers. The minimum down payment is usually 20% of the total purchase price of the property. This is also referred to as an 80% Loan to Value "LTV" loan.

Types of lenders

The most common type of Bank, Lender or Mortgage company, to offer Foreign National Mortgage loans are those in and around major cities . These lenders are situated where there is a large foreign natinional population base due to high immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

 rates . The lenders in new immigration hubs are more likely to have foreign national mortgage loan programs so they can serve their local community.

Referrals

The best referral source for obtaining a foreign national mortgage loan is a local real estate broker

Real estate broker

A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...

that works in a location that has a high immigration rate. Some cities that might have a real estate broker familiar with Foreign National mortgage finance or many Foreign Nationals buying real estate might be Queens, New York, or San Diego, California, etc.

Foreign National Credit Reports

Lenders do prefer a credit report from the home country, although some will take 3 credit reference letters from the borrower. The credit report is much like our own in the U.S. but without scores as their scoring systems are different from our own. There are agencies in the U.S. that obtain the data, conform it to U.S. regulations and provide the background checks (verification of employment, verification of an existence of a company for self employed) and anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, OFAC and red flag rules.