Chinese people should pay special attention to some common sense when buying a house in the United States, pdf

Step1 Choose the area to buy a house

Nowadays, with the improvement of economic level, more and more families are immigrating to the United States. For some friends who come to the United States for the first time, It is said that choosing a city is a headache. Among the many cities in the United States, many people don’t know which city to choose to buy a house?

When Chinese people go to the United States to buy houses, the most popular places are mainly in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston.

Cities in the United States have specific real estate parameters, such as average residential price, average house age, average living area, average unit price, school district scores, etc. These real estate parameters will be an important basis for choosing a city.

The area with the largest number of Chinese is the largest city in the United States after New York. The environment here is beautiful, and the temperate maritime climate makes it very mild all year round. There are no particularly hot summers or severe winters. Although the air quality is not the best in the United States, compared to the current haze situation in China, it is definitely a world away. There are many Chinese communities here, and the number of Chinese people is large, so it may be easier for new immigrants to integrate in terms of living habits. Moreover, the trade and economy here is developed, and it is the largest base for the petrochemical, marine, aerospace industry and electronics industries in the United States, so there are relatively many employment opportunities.

Since the United States has the best education in the world, more than 100,000 Chinese people study in the United States every year. Therefore, the demand for real estate related to this is huge, and most Chinese people have the ability to buy houses. Consider educational needs and make plans for children who are about to study in the United States. Therefore, cities and locations with educational resources have become the most popular areas for Chinese to buy houses in the United States, such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Las Vegas and other cities where Chinese people buy more houses. area.

Chinese people go to the United States to buy real estate, both for investment and for self-occupation, and some use the house to support their education and retirement. New York is the largest city in the United States. It is also known as the "Capital of the World" and directly affects the global economy, finance, media, politics, education, entertainment and fashion. As the financial center of the United States, it is very suitable for workers engaged in stocks and securities to live. At the same time, most immigrants will choose New York.

It can be said that in recent years, as American culture has gradually been understood by Chinese people, various cities are no longer so mysterious, and Chinese people’s understanding of the United States is also growing day by day, whether in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Chicago. , Seattle and other places, if you don’t know how to choose, you can go to the local area to see which city you want to stay in for development, and then compare based on various needs.

Step2 Determine the financial plan for home purchase

The documents required for cash buyers and loan buyers are different.

If you are a cash buyer, the documents you need to prepare:

1. A valid passport and visa (not necessary, you can authorize a broker to purchase if you do not go to the United States).

2. Accounts opened in overseas banks (not necessarily in the United States, but it is recommended to be in areas with developed finance and no foreign exchange controls, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and European countries).

3. Two months of bank deposit certificates (the bank account can be in the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Singapore, etc., but cannot be a domestic bank account, and each item on the deposit certificate must be The source of each deposit must be stated. Proof of deposit for more than two months does not require an explanation of the source of the deposit).

If you are a payment buyer, you need to prepare the following documents:

1. A valid passport and visa (not necessary, you can authorize a broker to purchase if you do not go to the United States).

2. Domestic income certification documents;

a. Domestic salary slips: need to show the borrower’s monthly RMB income and income so far this year;

< p>b. Letter of income verification provided by the employer: The letter must indicate the borrower’s position, monthly/annual income, and the start of service in the company. This certification letter needs to be stamped by the employer's human resources department. Note: The lending bank may require the borrower to provide records of salary deposits into bank accounts in the past three months.

3. Domestic credit/credit record;

a. If the borrower has a US Social Security Number (SSN), the borrower’s credit record in the US will be retrieved;< /p>

b. If the borrower does not have a U.S. Social Security number, the borrower is required to provide four pieces of the following information, and the international credit reporting company will check with domestic banks and telephone companies whether payment is made on time:

*Phone number

*Bank debit card (Debit Card)

*Bank credit card (Credit Card)

*Bank account number

< p>4. Accounts opened in overseas banks;

Not necessarily in the United States, but it is recommended to be in areas with developed finance and no foreign exchange controls, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and European countries.

5. Two months’ bank deposit certificate.

The bank account can be in the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Singapore, etc., but it cannot be a domestic bank account, and the source of each deposit on the deposit certificate must be stated. Proof of deposit for more than two months, no need to explain the source of the deposit.

Step3 Select a house and view the house

Determine the housing price range in the United States

Before searching for a house, you must first know how much house you can afford. If you don’t have 5% of the house price in cash as a down payment, it’s best not to rush to buy a house. One is because it’s difficult to get a loan and you can’t get a good interest rate. The second is to prevent the house from being confiscated by the bank if the money is not collected, the loan cannot be repaid every month, and the bank confiscates the house. For Chinese buyers, most of them currently use full cash payment. In this case, in addition to having sufficient earnest money deposit (Earnest Money Deposit) deposited in his or her U.S. bank account, the buyer must also ensure that there is sufficient balance in his or her U.S. account when the house is transferred. Otherwise, once the house cannot be sold due to insufficient funds, the deposit will not be returned and the loss will be huge. Currently, banks that provide U.S. home purchase loans to Chinese buyers usually require a minimum down payment of 35% of the house price. Therefore, it is very important to determine the price range based on the financial situation before buying a house.

Deciding where to buy a house in the United States

The Chinese say location, location, location, and Americans say location, location, location. In fact, location is very important. This is a rule that applies everywhere.

There are different communities in the United States, and there are differences in housing prices between communities. Generally speaking, housing prices in communities that are entirely single-family homes will be more expensive than in communities with apartment buildings. How much money you spend to buy your house will be in the same range as your neighbor's income.

If schools are an important factor when choosing a house, then house segment will be especially important. Public education in the United States has a strict school district division mechanism. From elementary school to high school, students can only go to school in the school district where they live. Due to differences in school funding and teacher quality, there are good and bad school districts. House prices in areas with good schools are also relatively high and will hold their value better.

For many Chinese students from China, because they do not have U.S. green cards or citizenship, they usually need to choose to study in private schools. Although many English-language property search websites have basic information about American high schools, if you want to know the specific conditions of these schools, especially private schools, you need to spend a lot of time and energy checking various English websites.

Selection of house types for buying a house in the United States

House types in the United States can be roughly divided into Single Family House, Town House and Condo. From a purely investment perspective, single-family villas hold the best value, followed by attached villas and finally apartments.

Strictly speaking, an apartment is not a house type, but a form of housing organization. When you buy the first two types of apartments, you buy the house and the land together, but when you buy an apartment, you only get the unit you live in, and neither the roof nor the land belongs to the buyer. Because the shared area of ​​an apartment is relatively large, the maintenance and management fees are higher than that of a townhouse. Community management fees for single-family houses are lower, but you need to mow the grass and tidy up the yard regularly, which is relatively troublesome.

The orientation of the house and the height of the terrain have a great impact on future living comfort. Buyers who prefer Feng Shui can also consider it when choosing a house type.

Choose a U.S. broker

When buying a house in the United States, both the buyer and seller require the participation of a licensed broker in most transactions. The level of the agent directly affects whether you can win the house of your choice, as well as the fluctuation of the price. A broker may be a buyer's agent or a seller's agent when serving clients. In the transaction of second-hand houses in the United States, the seller must pay the agent a commission of 6% of the transaction price after the property is completed. This part of the commission will be divided equally between the buyer and the seller's agent. The buyer does not need to pay any commission to the broker. When choosing a broker, you generally need to pay attention to the following points:

1. Whether it is licensed: Brokers in the United States must be licensed, that is, they must pass an official examination to obtain a business license. Regulations vary from state to state, and broker licenses vary from state to state. You must hold a local license to sell local properties. When choosing a broker, you must choose a licensed broker.

2. Broker’s experience: There is no doubt that experience in the brokerage industry is very important. When choosing a broker, you need to understand the broker’s experience, experience, and reviews. You can communicate with multiple brokers and choose the one with more experience. Brokers have their own expertise, and brokers in different regions will have a faster and deeper understanding of information in their respective regions.

3. The agent’s attitude: The agent’s character, whether he respects his customers or not, and whether he is dedicated or not, can often be understood through conversation. The agent's attitude will have an impact on whether the transaction process is smooth and enjoyable, and may even affect the buyer's interests.

4. The persuasiveness of the agent’s communication: During the process of buying a house, it is necessary to negotiate the price, house maintenance and other matters are often one of the conditions that can be negotiated. It is difficult for a person who speaks unconvincingly to be competent. It’s not enough to be able to speak, you also need to be able to write. Even if your agent can convince the seller's agent by convincing him that it's dead, the seller's agent may not be able to convince the seller. This is when your agent needs to bring her writing skills into play. Write out the reasons for your offer and email it to the selling agent. The selling agent can simply print it out and show it to the seller, or forward the email directly to the seller.

American broker service scope

1. The buyer’s agent represents the buyer’s interests to the greatest extent and is completely loyal to you in accordance with the law. Likewise, a selling agent represents the interests of his or her employer, the seller.

2. The buyer's agent will pre-select properties for you and provide you with a wealth of relevant information about the property and the town in which it is located.

3. The buyer’s agent will conduct peer-to-peer communication, consultation and negotiation with the seller’s agent.

4. A buyer’s agent will help you estimate the market price of the property you want to buy and help you establish a negotiation strategy for the sale.

5. The buyer's agent will help you hire professionals from all walks of life, including real estate lawyers, bank loans and various home inspection professionals. Such as house structure inspection, pest inspection, lead paint inspection, radon inspection, etc. It depends on the laws of each state. For example, Massachusetts requires that the property for sale need to solve these potential problems before it can be sold. This is a regulation to ensure the health of the residents.

6. The employment contract signed by the buyer and the buyer's agent will ensure that the buyer's agent will help the employer wholeheartedly until the sale is completed and receive compensation for his labor.

7. The scope of work of agents in the United States is much larger than that of domestic intermediaries. In addition to the above services when buying a house, it may also involve the following real estate-related work:

* Agent for mortgage loan;

* Agent for rent collection;

* Agent for real estate exchange;

* Agent for real estate auction;

* Agent for real estate Businesses accounting for more than half of the value are auctioned.

It is worth noting that the agent is not a lawyer. He cannot provide legal advice to the client or engage in property rights review business. Contracts are all formulated uniformly. The agent cannot draft and change them at will, otherwise it will be illegal. to be punished.

Step 4 Make an offer to buy a house

Check U.S. housing information

After you select a house you are satisfied with, the next thing to do is to prepare an offer contract.

First of all, the agent will comprehensively search for relevant information for you, such as the listing history of the property, market analysis, market statistics and government tax assessment price, etc. Property listing history: how many times the house has been traded before, how much it sold for each time, and at what time.

How many days has the house been on the market? Has the price been reduced? The seller’s reasons for selling the home. If the seller's previous purchase price was lower and the sale this time is just a question of how much money he or she will make, then there will be more room for negotiation. If the house has just been on the market, or the price has just been reduced, or you are not in a hurry to sell, there is less room for negotiation.

Market analysis: Because houses with similar conditions in different locations have very different house prices, the so-called market analysis actually looks at similar houses in the same community at the same time (within 6 months) selling price. It would be ideal if you could find a house of the same size, with the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the same basement. Otherwise, you need to adjust the price or look for a similar house a little further away.

Market statistics: The major real estate associations in the United States release home sales statistics every month. One of them is the average sales price to asking price ratio of the zip code where the house is located. Brokers will quote prices based on this average ratio.

Government tax assessment: This is the valuation given by the local government to houses and land in order to determine the amount of real estate taxes. Generally speaking, this data is relatively objective. In a seller's market, the sale price of a home may be higher than the assessed value. In a buyer's market, a home may be sold for less than the assessed value. At the same time and in the same neighborhood, if the asking price of other houses in the same neighborhood is lower than the assessed value, but the asking price of the house you want to buy is higher than the assessed value, it means that the asking price is on the high side. You can negotiate the price with the seller based on this.

U.S. house purchase quotation and deposit payment

The quotation contract must also indicate the deposit (Earnest Money Deposit). This is a sum of money that the buyer pays to the buyer's brokerage company at the time of making an offer. If the buyer unilaterally breaks the house purchase contract without justifiable reasons, the deposit will be forfeited. The larger the deposit, the greater the sincerity of the buyer and the more assured the seller is. Most companies require a minimum deposit of $5,000. In order to protect their own interests, sellers will also require higher deposits. The general deposit amount is 2% to 3% of the quoted price.

Additional terms of the U.S. house purchase quotation contract

In addition to confirming the quotation and deposit, the agent will also help you choose some additional terms to ensure that you can legally cancel the contract when necessary and get Deposit back. The following are commonly used add-ons: Home Inspection, Radon Inspection and Termite Inspection: In the quote contract, add-ons for these three inspections can be included. Terms are generally valid for 7 to 15 days. During the validity period, the buyer has the right to cancel the contract or require the seller to pay for repairs or processing on the grounds that any inspection fails.

House appraisal (Appraisal) and loan approval (Financial): In the quotation contract, two additional terms, house appraisal and loan approval, can also be attached. The terms are generally valid for 15 days. However, due to the impact of subprime loans a few years ago, banks are more picky, and there are cases where the house valuation is lower than the contract price, which affects loan approval. For safety reasons, the validity period of the loan approval rider can be increased to 20 days.

Precautions for house inspection

House inspection is one of the indispensable additional terms of the quotation contract. When the buyer and seller sign the purchase contract, the first thing the buyer does is to have a licensed home inspector (Home Inspector) inspect the house. The inspection fee is paid by the buyer, and the price depends on the house price, usually several hundred dollars. The higher the house price, the more expensive the inspection fee will be. A home inspection usually takes about two to three hours. It is best for buyers to follow the inspector during the home inspection, so that they can learn a lot.

Step5 Handover

Real estate transfer is the final step in the real estate transaction in the United States. The buyer has the right to choose a transfer escrow company to ensure that the buyer obtains legal property rights. If you don't know who to look for, an agent will recommend it to you. The property transfer terms entered into by the buyer and seller in the real estate transaction are supervised and executed by a third party, that is, the transfer escrow company.

The transfer escrow specialist is an independent intermediary and is responsible for the safekeeping of all transaction-related funds, instructions and documents, including deposits, new loans and loan documents, etc., so that the unanimous instructions of all parties in the transaction can be followed. bridge. The closing escrow officer will check the title history to confirm that the seller actually owns the title. The longest history required is 40 to 60 years, and each state has its own regulations. If a problem is found, the problem must be solved before the transfer can occur.

Preparation before transfer of a house in the United States

One week before the transfer, the buyer of the loan must finalize the housing loan.

If the mortgage interest rate has not been locked yet, lock it immediately to avoid being too late to process the transfer. You should also prepare the transfer fees based on the draft transfer fee list (HUD-1) given by the transfer company, and inform the bank when and how much it will be. A few days before closing, the buyer's agent will ask the seller's agent for a bill to repair any problems discovered during the home inspection. Generally, repairs should have a 90-day warranty period, and the repair bill can also be used as warranty certificate. The buyer also needs to re-inspect the house before closing. In addition to making sure that everything that needs to be repaired has been repaired, that all equipment is operating normally, that everything the seller should have left behind is there, the numbers on the water and electricity meters must also be recorded.

If you find something that has not been repaired, be sure to negotiate with the seller during the transfer. The day before the transfer, the transfer company will give an accurate list of transfer fees. The buyer can go to the bank to write a cash check based on the transfer fees on the list. The cash check can be made out to the buyer himself, and it can be written payable to the transfer company on the reverse side when transferring the property. You should also bring a personal check when transferring the property. If the actual transfer fee exceeds the amount of the cash check, write another personal check to make up the amount.

Details of transfer fees for buying a house in the United States

Transfer fees include five parts, loan-related fees, loan bank advance receipts, intermediate account withholdings, property rights-related fees, and Transfer tax and title registration tax. The various fees add up to 1% to 2.25% of the house price, excluding the down payment of the loan. Loan-related expenses:

1. Items Required by Lender to be Paid in Advance

2. One month's loan interest in advance

< p>3. One year of house insurance

4. Reserves Deposited with Lender

5. Two months of house insurance premium

6. Withhold real estate taxes for two to seven months, depending on the month of transfer

7. Title charges (Title Charge)

8. Transfer escrow company Service Fee (Settlement Fee)

9. Title Search Fee (Title Search)

10. Bank Title Insurance (Title Insurance Lender's Coverage)

11. House Owner's Coverage

12. Notary and other expenses

13. Government Recording and Transfer Charges

14 . Recording Fee

15. City/CountyTax/Stamps

16. State Tax/Stamps

17. State Recordation Tax

The transfer fee list will also have the word POC, which means it was paid outside of Closing, such as Home inspection fees, etc. Termite inspection fees are generally paid at closing. Home insurance premiums can be paid in advance or at the time of closing.

U.S. house purchase and transfer materials

When transferring U.S. real estate, you must bring valid documents, such as a driver's license or photo ID. Foreigners bring passports. Also bring cash checks and personal checks drawn from the bank. Generally, the transfer takes one hour, and the main thing to do is to sign and pay. The transfer notary will first go over the Settlement Statement. If there are no objections, the seller and buyer will sign. After signing, the buyer hands the check to the transfer notary, who copies all the signed documents and gives a copy to the signer. Finally, the seller hands over the keys to the buyer, and the house becomes the buyer's.