American Abroad: Investing from China

[Evan Hacker]

Hello BP Community,

I am an American currently living and working in China. I have been interested in getting into REI for 5 years and have been saving up as much as possible.

I believe I have enough for a down payment on some of the properties I am interested in (~$30k on ~$100k properties) but I am in a tricky position to get a regular mortgage. Because I live in China my salary is very low (just above $1,000/month) however, I have done a lot of private tutoring that almost doubles my salary and my living expenses are EXTREMELY low, so I have been able to save most of my money. So, when applying for a loan my income will be seen as VERY low, making it seem as though I am unable to pay my monthly mortgage. For this reason I think I will get rejected from all standard mortgages.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for how to approach this situation so I do not have to wait until I can buy the house 100% cash to get started.

Any help or direction is appreciated.

Thank you,

-Evan