If you live in Toronto, Calgary, London, or Mexico City and want a house in the Valley, the first call most people make is to the bank they already use. That bank is almost never going to lend on Arizona property. It usually has no way to underwrite U.S. property and no U.S. credit file to check. So the buyer ends up cash-heavy, or stuck. There is a third option, and it is a real one.

Who these loans are for

A foreign national loan is built for someone who lives outside the United States, or lives here without a Social Security number and a U.S. credit history, and wants to buy U.S. property. Snowbirds are the obvious case. Canadians have been wintering in Scottsdale and Phoenix for decades, and plenty of them now want to own instead of renting for five months every year.

It also fits overseas investors buying a rental in Maricopa County, and families buying a house near a child who is attending school at Arizona State. The common thread is simple. You cannot show a lender a U.S. credit score or two years of U.S. tax returns, and you still have real money and real income.

This is different from a loan for someone living in Arizona on a work visa. If that is you, see our guide to ITIN refinancing, because those programs use a different set of rules.

What lenders typically require

Terms vary by lender and change often, so treat this as a working range, not a promise. These are the numbers I see most when I shop a file.

The loan is not harder to get than a conventional one. It is just priced for risk the lender cannot hand off to anyone else.

Two programs you might expect do not apply. FHA and VA need a U.S. presence and, in most cases, a Social Security number, and they are meant for owner-occupants. The HUD FHA program page spells out those eligibility rules. For a foreign national, the loan comes from a portfolio or non-agency lender, which is why the file has to be built with care.

Paperwork without a Social Security number

The pile is different from a U.S. file, but it is not bigger. Plan on a valid passport, a visa or proof of residence abroad where the lender asks for it, and bank statements from your home country showing where the down payment came from. Lenders want to see that the money is seasoned, meaning it has sat in your account for a couple of months and did not arrive last week from somewhere unexplained.

For credit, the usual substitutes are an international credit report, or a short list of references such as a utility bill, a credit card, or a prior mortgage with a letter from the lender. A few programs skip the credit report altogether if your assets are strong enough.

For income, you can use employment letters and pay records, or if you own a business, business bank statements. If you plan to rent the home out, you may not need personal income at all. More on that below.

One practical tip. Get your bank to issue statements in English before you start, and ask whether your funds will wire cleanly. Foreign wires attract extra compliance review, and a wire that bounces three days before closing can cost you the contract. Our guide to how many months of reserves lenders want explains how the asset side gets counted.

What the payment looks like

Here is a realistic case. A Canadian couple buys a $600,000 winter home in north Scottsdale and puts 30% down, which is $180,000. The loan is $420,000. Rate is the variable that moves the most, so here are three.

Add property tax, insurance, and any HOA dues on top. Arizona taxes are comparatively light, but insurance has been climbing, and many Scottsdale communities carry dues that matter. Daily rate surveys this week put the national 30 year rate at about 7.3% to 7.4%, so a foreign national loan one to two points above that is the range to plan around right now.

Run your own numbers

Using rental income to qualify

If the house will be a rental, you may qualify on the property instead of on your personal income. That is a DSCR loan, where the lender compares the expected rent to the monthly payment and does not ask for pay stubs or tax returns. It suits overseas investors well, because the file never has to translate foreign income.

The catch is that the rent has to cover the payment, and at today's rates that is a tighter test than it was three years ago. Our guide to DSCR loans in Arizona walks through the ratio, and the breakdown of short term rental loans covers the extra rules if you plan to list on a vacation platform. Check the HOA first, because many Valley communities ban rentals under 30 days.

Closing from another country

You do not have to fly in. Most closings with foreign buyers use a power of attorney, or sign documents at a notary or U.S. consulate near home and send them back by courier. The Arizona title company coordinates, and your lender has to approve the power of attorney in advance.

Build in extra time. A cross-border closing routinely takes a week or two longer than a local one, mostly because of wire timing and document delivery. Funds should arrive in the title company's escrow account in U.S. dollars, so ask your bank early about the exchange rate and the transfer limit. Currency swings can move your real purchase price by thousands, and that risk is yours, not the lender's.

Once you close, the deed is recorded with the Maricopa County Recorder, and you will want a certified copy on file back home. Our process page shows how we run the first 48 hours of a file.

Taxes and ownership structure

This is the part I will not play expert on. Owning U.S. property as a non-resident creates tax questions: how rental income is taxed, whether you file a U.S. return, and what happens when you sell. The IRS publishes the basic rules for non-resident aliens, and the sale side has its own withholding rule for foreign sellers. Talk to a cross-border CPA before you close, not after.

Ownership structure matters too. Some buyers hold title in an LLC, some personally, some in a trust. Each choice changes liability, estate planning, and sometimes the loan itself, since not every lender will close in an entity name. Ask a real estate attorney in Arizona, then tell us what you decided so we can price it.

If you are still choosing where to buy, browse current listings at Arizona Luxury Property Search, and check current Phoenix pricing and inventory against Homes.com's Phoenix Housing Market Reports. Winter buyers often compete against each other from January through March, so shopping in the fall gives you more leverage. For a seasonal property that is not your main home, our guide to second home loans in Scottsdale covers the domestic version of this loan, and our programs page lists the products we can shop. You can start with our team at Pillar Mortgage Group any time.

Honest caveat: a foreign national loan is the wrong tool if you can buy with cash and do not need the leverage, or if you plan to hold the home for only a year or two. The higher rate and the larger down payment make it expensive to carry for a short time, and some programs charge a prepayment penalty. If you may become a U.S. resident soon, waiting for a Social Security number and a credit file can open much cheaper options. We will tell you that up front, even if it means no loan today.

Frequently asked questions