Getting an International Mortgage
Written by Dian Herdiana on 8:32 AMIf you’ve ever dreamed of owning a holiday home in the sun, if you have plans to move to live abroad in another country or if you’d like to invest in overseas property, then chances are you’ve thought about how exactly you’re going to pay for your overseas property purchase!
You have a number of options when buying real estate internationally – you can apply for an international mortgage from an offshore bank, you can approach a lender in the country in which you want to buy, you can re-mortgage existing property if you have accrued equity on your home and use the released capital to buy overseas, or you could even approach your local bank and see if they offer mortgages to buy abroad.
Getting an international mortgage isn’t as hard as you might think therefore because you have so many options.
Some property investment advisers tell clients that it is best to have a mortgage in the country in which they are buying, others believe the only thing essential is to get a mortgage in the currency in which the property is priced, whereas others just tell their clients it is easier to release equity from their current main residence. Seemingly the best approach is the one that suits you best!
You may be interested to know that many of the world’s leading banking institutions have offshore and international arms and that because of their global presence the likes of HSBC and HBOS for example all offer international mortgages and specific mortgages and home finance solutions in various countries. Because of the pedigree of these lenders many buyers prefer to approach such institutions as a first step in their search for the best financial solution available.
Another large international bank is Barclays, they are based in the UK but if you want to get a mortgage to buy a holiday home in France, an investment property in Italy, a retirement home in Spain or even a golf retreat in Portugal they are one of the best lenders to speak to. If you aren’t based in the UK or even France, Spain, Portugal or Italy it doesn’t matter as the majority of your research and application process can be done online with most international mortgage lenders, there is then just a requirement to prove earnings, status and identity which can often be done with the certification of various documentation.
As an alternative, if you want to find out about the best range of international mortgages available to you in a given country you could approach an international mortgage broker. These are companies or individuals who specialize in getting finance for real estate - no matter where in the world the property or the purchasers are. These types of brokerage will charge a client for their services, but they often know where good deals can be found and they can get those with less than perfect status better deals that they might otherwise find on the high street.
Ultimately the best place to begin research is on the internet. But before you commit to a given institution make sure you have shopped around to see who else is offering mortgage deals. For the sake of your long term finances you have to ensure you get the best deal you can today as this could seriously affect the amount you repay over the duration of the loan in terms of interest payment.
Rhiannon Williamson writes about buying property abroad and offshore and international finance, to read more about international mortgages and offshore banking visit her site http://www.shelteroffshore.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rhiannon_Williamson
1 comments: Responses to “ Getting an International Mortgage ”
By Anonymous on 3:08 PM
There are no accurate figures on the amount of people that get turned down for a mortgage from a high street lender, but it is widely estimated that it is about 1 in 5.