First time buyer that just came to Ireland

Our family recently arrived to beautiful Ireland and looking to buy apartment or house.

However, I am getting dividends from outside of Ireland in the sum of 4000EUR per month net and my income in Ireland is just minimum wage as of now.

My wife is unemployed and looking after the child.

We are renting right now.

My question:

If we can put 40-50% down payment of the house price, can we still get a credit from the bank? Or should we wait till we have credit history and employment history?

Any ideas and suggestions how to get credit for first time buyer woudl be appreciated.

Thank you

Welcome to Ireland.
Below are a few points that might be helpful. In summary I think you will need to wait until you have a credit and employment history. Banks here are slow to lend. They prefer candidates who have strong employment history, good salary, credit history etc. It seems you don't meet much of this criteria so you might need to wait a while. It's unlikely that banks here will consider your banking history outside the country so you need to get a history here in Ireland. Below are some things you can do to improve your situation.
- Open an Irish bank account.
- Assuming you pay rent, pay it from the Irish bank account. That will show the bank, when you apply for a mortgage, that you pay monthly accomodation expenses and will give them some reassurance when assessing how likely you are to repay the mortgage - especially if the mortgage payment is likely to be similiar to your monthly rent.
- Are the dividends you receive guaranteed? How long will they continue for? Depending on the source of them and their duration the bank may consider them when accessing your application.
You would probably be best advised to have them lodged directly into your Irish bank account.
- Get your weekly/monthly salary payment lodged to your Irish bank account.
- Credit in Ireland is monitored by the Irish Credit Bureau. If you don't have any credit history here nothing will show up on their records. Borrowing small amounts or having a credit card and paying it off monthly will give you some credit history.
However, if your salary is low you might struggle to get even small amounts of credit - banks here are reluctant to lend.
- Talk to your local bank and ask them what they'd need to see from you to be able to consider your applicaton in 6/12 months time.

Good luck with it and remember that if you've just arrived renting in an area where you might buy is a good idea. It will give you a good idea of what it's like to live there. Also use the time to research what you can get for your money in areas you might be interested in.

If you have got the the kind of portfolio that can generate that kind of monthly income, I expect you'll find it easy enough to get the credit you need. Talk to your current bank and ask them to provide you with an introduction to an Irish bank as a starting point.

Unlike most people who are limited to financing their purchase by a mortgage, you will most likely have other options such as borrowing against your portfolio or back to back financing with your current bank, if they offer such a service.