When I was starting out, I would have loved to know that I don't need any cash or credit to make it happen.

I have had a job for 2 years, I have a credit score of about 720 (only had the card for a little over a year) and I plan to "house hack" the property I (hopefully) get approved for.

It is like a credit card in that, if you have a zero balance then it does not count against you.

I know plenty of people who can afford to buy a house, but are renters because they just moved to the country and don't have an established credit history.

Since he is a friend of yours he might be open to letting you rent with some sort of credit towards buying the place in a year or two.

Running a Mortgage Credit Report on any potential tenant will pull up more dirt than a worthless online consumer credit report.If you have someone with an 800+ score, make concessions to have them as renters.If you have someone with a 580 score, pass!  

With PNC i may not have enough credit is my only worry unless maybe i decided to go FHA if that was an option.

Still hurts the seller's credit, but less than a foreclosure. 

So theoretically all I need now is to build a decent credit score in the US and I could get Freddie/Fannie loans without actually being a US resident?

@Jermaine Riggs   Remember the 6PsPrior Planning Prevents P*ssPoor Performance There are steps that you can be taking today that will better ensure you will be able to qualify for the best of terms on your purchase in TX.1. have a Mortgage Broker run a Tri-Merged MORTGAGE credit report and pay the extra $15 for them to also run the "What If" score increase simulator to know how best to pay down debt in the interim2. start eating MREs and saving like a maniac until you close as the more money you can show in reserves Post-Closing, the better the programs you can qualify for.etc,etc,etc,