US Expat in South Korea Receiving Mortgage Loan in the USA

[Bryce B.]

Hi All,

I am currently looking into investing in property back home in the USA. I'm originally from California, but I work in Seoul, South Korea. 

I am currently looking into how to get preapproved for a mortgage. Has anyone heard of US expats doing this before? I have only worked for Korean employers, so all of my official documentation for taxes/assets/bank acct. info/income is in Korean. Given this, I think I will have to have 2 year's worth of this documentation translated into English by a certified translator IN THE STATES. Does this seem right to you? Will it be possible to get preapproved if I do this?

My other concern is that if I apply for loans for properties over the next five years or so, will I have to have this documentation translated EACH time for the most recent 2 years? Or can I just use the translated documentation even if it's over 2 years old? If I have to translate them each time I apply for a loan, I imagine it will be quite costly.

I'd appreciate any ideas about this! I'm currently looking into this with some lenders now.