expats and foreign mortgages?
Discussion
just wondering if anyone here has bought property overseas. interested in knowing the score regarding proof of earnings, deposits and LTV etc.
let's start with the UK for ease of conversation. looking at either a rental flat in the uk [likely manchester] or a lock up and leave holiday rental, location TBD.
let's start with the UK for ease of conversation. looking at either a rental flat in the uk [likely manchester] or a lock up and leave holiday rental, location TBD.
I just bought in the UK, while my contract was still UAE based (before transfer to Saudi, for reasons that will become clear).
Natwest was the only high street lender that could come up with a product for me that wasn't stupid with regards to interest rates or LTV.
Minimum 15% down. 2.xx fixed for 2 years. 3.xx fixed for 3 years. 4.xx fixed for 5 years. Up to 5 times salary multiple.
10% per year overpayment allowed without penalty for 1st 5 years, after that its unlimited without fee.
Proof of identity was a big part of the application, luckily we went back to the UK house hunting so were able to drop off a passport copy and boarding pass copy with the FA. That saved a whole load of copies/attestations/verifications at the Embassy.
As an expat, there is no 'Agreement in Principal', you go straight to application (1k fee) so you need to find a place, have an offer accepted before you apply.
We were cleared by the underwriter in about 2 days, basically letting us know that the figures stacked up and, if we could supply the rest of the documentation requirements and pass the audit we were good to go.
They required an 'introduction letter' from my employer; NOT a Middle East employer, but preferably they head office (USA or Europe based). They will not lend to you if you don't work for a western company. The letter basically says that you are on assignment to the Middle East, earn $XX, have worked X years with the company etc. This is why I applied before transfer to Saudi, been in DXB for 7 years so looked better on the paperwork than just 1 month in KSA (albeit with 45% more income).
The last thing, and the bit that takes the longest, depending on circumstances, is the audit trail. They will need to see a build up of deposit funds, from Zero to full amount. I was lucky as I had original statements saved from an account where most of my deposit came from, plus some stock awards from the company (sold just before the oil price crash
). If you get money as a gift, they will want to see where the giver got the money from. If from the sale of property, they will want to see the trail of how that property was purchased originally. They will not leave any stone unturned and will not approve the laundering audit unless you can show 0 to deposit amount legitimately, not even an odd grand out of place....
From application, we were clear of underwriter in 2 days, Identity confirmation in a week, Laundering audit in 8 weeks (even for a simple case) and back with the underwriter for a final week before approval. I'm glad they did take this time as it meant that we exchanged prior to the Autumn statement and had our SDLT reduced by about 4k
We had our offer accepted 27th September, Exchanged on the 1st December, Completed on the 10th, my shipment arrived on the 22nd and we had stockings hung by the fire on the 24th.
Now I just have to do my time in Saudi to pay for it all.....
Natwest was the only high street lender that could come up with a product for me that wasn't stupid with regards to interest rates or LTV.
Minimum 15% down. 2.xx fixed for 2 years. 3.xx fixed for 3 years. 4.xx fixed for 5 years. Up to 5 times salary multiple.
10% per year overpayment allowed without penalty for 1st 5 years, after that its unlimited without fee.
Proof of identity was a big part of the application, luckily we went back to the UK house hunting so were able to drop off a passport copy and boarding pass copy with the FA. That saved a whole load of copies/attestations/verifications at the Embassy.
As an expat, there is no 'Agreement in Principal', you go straight to application (1k fee) so you need to find a place, have an offer accepted before you apply.
We were cleared by the underwriter in about 2 days, basically letting us know that the figures stacked up and, if we could supply the rest of the documentation requirements and pass the audit we were good to go.
They required an 'introduction letter' from my employer; NOT a Middle East employer, but preferably they head office (USA or Europe based). They will not lend to you if you don't work for a western company. The letter basically says that you are on assignment to the Middle East, earn $XX, have worked X years with the company etc. This is why I applied before transfer to Saudi, been in DXB for 7 years so looked better on the paperwork than just 1 month in KSA (albeit with 45% more income).
The last thing, and the bit that takes the longest, depending on circumstances, is the audit trail. They will need to see a build up of deposit funds, from Zero to full amount. I was lucky as I had original statements saved from an account where most of my deposit came from, plus some stock awards from the company (sold just before the oil price crash
). If you get money as a gift, they will want to see where the giver got the money from. If from the sale of property, they will want to see the trail of how that property was purchased originally. They will not leave any stone unturned and will not approve the laundering audit unless you can show 0 to deposit amount legitimately, not even an odd grand out of place....From application, we were clear of underwriter in 2 days, Identity confirmation in a week, Laundering audit in 8 weeks (even for a simple case) and back with the underwriter for a final week before approval. I'm glad they did take this time as it meant that we exchanged prior to the Autumn statement and had our SDLT reduced by about 4k
We had our offer accepted 27th September, Exchanged on the 1st December, Completed on the 10th, my shipment arrived on the 22nd and we had stockings hung by the fire on the 24th.
Now I just have to do my time in Saudi to pay for it all.....
cheers for that dan, 15% is just about achievable if the rumours of our annual bonus come good. james i'll give you a buzz when i get back, just musing at the moment and looking at rightmove et al.
dan did you already own in the uk? i have a house already [with equity] but had a less than stellar credit history before i went expat.
dan did you already own in the uk? i have a house already [with equity] but had a less than stellar credit history before i went expat.
Do you want details of my FA, or from James above?
I tried 'proper' expat mortgage companies and most wanted 20% at the biggest stretch but prefer 30%. At 20% the interest rate was silly, even 30% it was much worse than the high street deal I ended up with. Ask an expat specialist FA for 4.5% fixed for 5 years with 15% down and they will laugh at you.
Shirt, I did not have property in the UK. As an ex-pat they don't normally rely on your UK credit rating as it is pretty meaningless if you don't live in the UK. I checked mine out, just in case, and was at 'excellent - 999' (is that as far as it goes?) because I kept my UK bank accounts and credit card for my UK purchases and paid the balance each month. Using credit but not abusing it. There were a couple of advisories on there though - not on electoral roll and something else minor I cannot recall.
I tried 'proper' expat mortgage companies and most wanted 20% at the biggest stretch but prefer 30%. At 20% the interest rate was silly, even 30% it was much worse than the high street deal I ended up with. Ask an expat specialist FA for 4.5% fixed for 5 years with 15% down and they will laugh at you.
Shirt, I did not have property in the UK. As an ex-pat they don't normally rely on your UK credit rating as it is pretty meaningless if you don't live in the UK. I checked mine out, just in case, and was at 'excellent - 999' (is that as far as it goes?) because I kept my UK bank accounts and credit card for my UK purchases and paid the balance each month. Using credit but not abusing it. There were a couple of advisories on there though - not on electoral roll and something else minor I cannot recall.
Edited by oilydan on Monday 2nd February 16:09
I bought a property in Australia back in 2007 (completed in 2008).
It was a very easy process although as a Non-Perm resident/Citizen you are very limited as to what you can buy e.g. piece of land which you must start to develop within 1 year with a development cost equal to 50% or above of the purchase price / Off-plan (like I did) / new build i.e. its completed but not owned by anybody except the developer.
You will first need to the get FIRB approval. Its free and takes approx 1 month to either get the nod or rejection. As such, any property you are looking at must be bought on the proviso that you first have to get FIRB approval.
There were a number of mortgage brokers around offering some pretty good deals, for which you pay nothing as the banks pay the mortgage broker (well, they did in 2007). They are tapped into the banks and know who is offering what.
I met my small time developer in a greasy spoon cafe on a cold and wet Adelaide morning in Aug 2007. Over bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, tea and the like we looked at plans and sample boards of what the property would look like. Construction had just started but took some time as it only finished in Oct 2008 (right when the markets went bang!).
I still believe that the UK is the best place to buy, if you want to rent out.
It was a very easy process although as a Non-Perm resident/Citizen you are very limited as to what you can buy e.g. piece of land which you must start to develop within 1 year with a development cost equal to 50% or above of the purchase price / Off-plan (like I did) / new build i.e. its completed but not owned by anybody except the developer.
You will first need to the get FIRB approval. Its free and takes approx 1 month to either get the nod or rejection. As such, any property you are looking at must be bought on the proviso that you first have to get FIRB approval.
There were a number of mortgage brokers around offering some pretty good deals, for which you pay nothing as the banks pay the mortgage broker (well, they did in 2007). They are tapped into the banks and know who is offering what.
I met my small time developer in a greasy spoon cafe on a cold and wet Adelaide morning in Aug 2007. Over bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, tea and the like we looked at plans and sample boards of what the property would look like. Construction had just started but took some time as it only finished in Oct 2008 (right when the markets went bang!).
I still believe that the UK is the best place to buy, if you want to rent out.
Used a mortgage broker in the UK who sorted everything out for us.
Ended up with a good mortgage with the Halifax even though we both had zero credit history to speak of - perhaps the 30% plus deposit on quiet a hefty property helped things a bit...
If you're interested I can try and dig out his details - it was a few years back.
Ended up with a good mortgage with the Halifax even though we both had zero credit history to speak of - perhaps the 30% plus deposit on quiet a hefty property helped things a bit...
If you're interested I can try and dig out his details - it was a few years back.
oilydan said:
I just bought in the UK, while my contract was still UAE based (before transfer to Saudi, for reasons that will become clear).
Natwest was the only high street lender that could come up with a product for me that wasn't stupid with regards to interest rates or LTV.
Minimum 15% down. 2.xx fixed for 2 years. 3.xx fixed for 3 years. 4.xx fixed for 5 years. Up to 5 times salary multiple.
10% per year overpayment allowed without penalty for 1st 5 years, after that its unlimited without fee.
Proof of identity was a big part of the application, luckily we went back to the UK house hunting so were able to drop off a passport copy and boarding pass copy with the FA. That saved a whole load of copies/attestations/verifications at the Embassy.
As an expat, there is no 'Agreement in Principal', you go straight to application (1k fee) so you need to find a place, have an offer accepted before you apply.
We were cleared by the underwriter in about 2 days, basically letting us know that the figures stacked up and, if we could supply the rest of the documentation requirements and pass the audit we were good to go.
They required an 'introduction letter' from my employer; NOT a Middle East employer, but preferably they head office (USA or Europe based). They will not lend to you if you don't work for a western company. The letter basically says that you are on assignment to the Middle East, earn $XX, have worked X years with the company etc. This is why I applied before transfer to Saudi, been in DXB for 7 years so looked better on the paperwork than just 1 month in KSA (albeit with 45% more income).
The last thing, and the bit that takes the longest, depending on circumstances, is the audit trail. They will need to see a build up of deposit funds, from Zero to full amount. I was lucky as I had original statements saved from an account where most of my deposit came from, plus some stock awards from the company (sold just before the oil price crash ). If you get money as a gift, they will want to see where the giver got the money from. If from the sale of property, they will want to see the trail of how that property was purchased originally. They will not leave any stone unturned and will not approve the laundering audit unless you can show 0 to deposit amount legitimately, not even an odd grand out of place....
From application, we were clear of underwriter in 2 days, Identity confirmation in a week, Laundering audit in 8 weeks (even for a simple case) and back with the underwriter for a final week before approval. I'm glad they did take this time as it meant that we exchanged prior to the Autumn statement and had our SDLT reduced by about 4k
We had our offer accepted 27th September, Exchanged on the 1st December, Completed on the 10th, my shipment arrived on the 22nd and we had stockings hung by the fire on the 24th.
Now I just have to do my time in Saudi to pay for it all.....
Stick with KSA, I did 12 years in the end and it was well worth, been home 3 years so far and would go back to work on early retirement - own 3 houses 2 in UK and one in the StatesNatwest was the only high street lender that could come up with a product for me that wasn't stupid with regards to interest rates or LTV.
Minimum 15% down. 2.xx fixed for 2 years. 3.xx fixed for 3 years. 4.xx fixed for 5 years. Up to 5 times salary multiple.
10% per year overpayment allowed without penalty for 1st 5 years, after that its unlimited without fee.
Proof of identity was a big part of the application, luckily we went back to the UK house hunting so were able to drop off a passport copy and boarding pass copy with the FA. That saved a whole load of copies/attestations/verifications at the Embassy.
As an expat, there is no 'Agreement in Principal', you go straight to application (1k fee) so you need to find a place, have an offer accepted before you apply.
We were cleared by the underwriter in about 2 days, basically letting us know that the figures stacked up and, if we could supply the rest of the documentation requirements and pass the audit we were good to go.
They required an 'introduction letter' from my employer; NOT a Middle East employer, but preferably they head office (USA or Europe based). They will not lend to you if you don't work for a western company. The letter basically says that you are on assignment to the Middle East, earn $XX, have worked X years with the company etc. This is why I applied before transfer to Saudi, been in DXB for 7 years so looked better on the paperwork than just 1 month in KSA (albeit with 45% more income).
The last thing, and the bit that takes the longest, depending on circumstances, is the audit trail. They will need to see a build up of deposit funds, from Zero to full amount. I was lucky as I had original statements saved from an account where most of my deposit came from, plus some stock awards from the company (sold just before the oil price crash
). If you get money as a gift, they will want to see where the giver got the money from. If from the sale of property, they will want to see the trail of how that property was purchased originally. They will not leave any stone unturned and will not approve the laundering audit unless you can show 0 to deposit amount legitimately, not even an odd grand out of place....From application, we were clear of underwriter in 2 days, Identity confirmation in a week, Laundering audit in 8 weeks (even for a simple case) and back with the underwriter for a final week before approval. I'm glad they did take this time as it meant that we exchanged prior to the Autumn statement and had our SDLT reduced by about 4k
We had our offer accepted 27th September, Exchanged on the 1st December, Completed on the 10th, my shipment arrived on the 22nd and we had stockings hung by the fire on the 24th.
Now I just have to do my time in Saudi to pay for it all.....
Roger Woods said:
Stick with KSA, I did 12 years in the end and it was well worth, been home 3 years so far and would go back to work on early retirement - own 3 houses 2 in UK and one in the States
Saudi is great; I'm saving a fortune in booze, losing weight, studying for another qualification, not getting nagged, and getting paid a king's ransom. What's not to like.
oilydan said:
Roger Woods said:
Stick with KSA, I did 12 years in the end and it was well worth, been home 3 years so far and would go back to work on early retirement - own 3 houses 2 in UK and one in the States
Saudi is great; I'm saving a fortune in booze, losing weight, studying for another qualification, not getting nagged, and getting paid a king's ransom. What's not to like.
oilydan said:
Roger Woods said:
Stick with KSA, I did 12 years in the end and it was well worth, been home 3 years so far and would go back to work on early retirement - own 3 houses 2 in UK and one in the States
Saudi is great; I'm saving a fortune in booze, losing weight, studying for another qualification, not getting nagged, and getting paid a king's ransom. What's not to like.
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