Househacking in Cleveland - Canadian on a P1 Visa?
Looking to get some advice from the BP community. I'm currently looking to find a DP in the Cleveland area that I will live in / house hack for the next two years (possibly longer) . I recently signed a 2 year contract to play professional hockey in the area but as a Canadian I think it gives me some drawbacks and I'm curious if anyone out there has any prior experience.
I have a SSN, as well as a fresh credit score (6mo of credit history and will be 9mo by end of September). I'll make roughly $70k each of the next two seasons and I have just under $10k saved up.
I've done some (although I still feel very limited with my knowledge) research about FHA loans and ideally would be able to use some of the grants that seem to be available for down payment assistance. Has anyone been in a similar situation before? Curious if there is anything I need to be aware of since I am in the US on a visa. I lived and played in the US last year (filed my taxes in Cleveland). However my P1 visa expires at the end of August and I receive a new one for the following season, will this affect my ability to get pre-approved etc?
Would appreciate any advice and happy to chat, thanks in advance.
Hey Jake,
Since you have a SSN, have filed taxes in the U.S., are able to prove that you will have your P1 visa renewed and have a credit score you should be ok.
We have just added a down payment assistance program and we are working on a foreign national program.
I'd be more than happy to connect to see how I could help further.
Quote from @Jake Gaudet:
Looking to get some advice from the BP community. I'm currently looking to find a DP in the Cleveland area that I will live in / house hack for the next two years (possibly longer) . I recently signed a 2 year contract to play professional hockey in the area but as a Canadian I think it gives me some drawbacks and I'm curious if anyone out there has any prior experience.
I have a SSN, as well as a fresh credit score (6mo of credit history and will be 9mo by end of September). I'll make roughly $70k each of the next two seasons and I have just under $10k saved up.
I've done some (although I still feel very limited with my knowledge) research about FHA loans and ideally would be able to use some of the grants that seem to be available for down payment assistance. Has anyone been in a similar situation before? Curious if there is anything I need to be aware of since I am in the US on a visa. I lived and played in the US last year (filed my taxes in Cleveland). However my P1 visa expires at the end of August and I receive a new one for the following season, will this affect my ability to get pre-approved etc?
Would appreciate any advice and happy to chat, thanks in advance.
Jake, you may be able to find something in less desirable parts of CLE with 10K down-payment. Most suburbs have nice SFHs, MFHs starting around $100K. If you are OK to house-hack you may want to consider a fixer-upper MFH that you can buy under $100k, fix it up and then force appreciation and also increased rents. My $0.02
Goodluck and keep us posted on your journey..
I think you'll need multiple people to answer all of these questions, but I can handle some of it. I can say that with a lower down payment and on FHA, you are less competitive in this market. Things have began to slow down a little thankfully and there is more SFH inventory in this last week than in the last month in the areas that I look for my clients. If you're brand new to the city as it sounds and you have no knowledge of the area, and agent will be invaluable to know where is good and where is bad. Also, a duplex in certain areas is a much better idea than in others so that may factor into the decision as well. Reach out with any other questions, I'm happy to help. Good luck!