Looking for a lender, we have some unique circumstances. Help!

[Josh Taylor]

Hey guys,

So my wife and I are looking to get a loan to buy our first house together. However I'm in the process of immigrating. I'm in the country for good, just waiting 12-24 months to get my permanent residency, which is the approximate processing time. I'm able to start working within 4 or 5 months. That being said, we are looking to qualify for a mortgage based solely on my wife's income, with the intention that I could spend some time fixing the house up until my work authorization comes through within a few months.  Here are our financial circumstances.

-We are looking at houses around $150k somewhere north of the city, if we would be able to get a loan for that.

-She makes $38k a year, and has a mid 600 credit score.

-She is a W2 employee on a fixed term contract working in HR. Her previous contract was 12 months, they then offered her a full time job, but she declined to take on this contract for a higher salary. She is 2 months into this 6 month contract, with a high likelyhood they will renew it at the end.

-We have around $85k cash.

Would we be able to get a traditional loan based on my wifes income alone? Would there be any other routes we could go down? Realistically we don't mind stretching ourselves a little thin for these couple of months while I fix the house, and hopefully make some sweat equity, then once my work authorization comes through and I'm able to start working we could at least double our household income.

Any ideas/recommendations welcome, thanks guys.