Private lenders for creditless foreign student

[Miguel Martinez]

Hi everyone, so I graduated a year ago in an MBA program in a nice school and now I have a great stable job reasonably well paid. I am here in a 3 year work permit after my studies but my status is still student. I am looking to make some small, nonrisky investment, max 100k. I have plans to change to other visas that allow me to stay longer, just didnt happen yet..

I always rent 2 or 3 br places and share them with roommates, but they are in my name, and those bills have always been paid on time. I am kind of conservative with money so so far I have only had debit cards and checking accounts, under the philosophy "if I can't pay it I won't but it"... or as we call it in my country, being financially responsible. Seems that the culture is different here and you have to owe money so it can be seen that you pay your debts. Didn't see it coming though.

So I have a nice salary, I pay everything on time, and the investment is low risk, I am just not the kind of person who enjoys debt. In my country real estate investment is not very attractive (down payment is 50% and around 400-500 usd per sqft... whoaaa!) so I am trying it here in the US, particularly in San Antonio, so I would need some advice on how to get a loan in my situation. Big banks are out until you are like citizen. The best offer I got, which I found a bit abusive, was 7% interest with 35% down. Please advise, thanks!!