Living overseas seeking Irish mortgage

H

Horatio

Registered User
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811
How's it goin' on there ?
we are leaving overseas for 3 years now & our irish accounts have had very minimal activity, mostly topping up our SSIA's (anothers days story), we are now looking at buying to rent in Ireland & will obviously need a mortgage provider, will this prove difficult considering the following:


we have been overseas for 3+ years,
we have not been paid salaries into any of our irish accounts,
we are quite solvent,
we have zero debt,
we are very recently married, both Irish citizens,
not considering returning home any time soon.

If y'all need more info to make a call, pls post here & I'll be glad to let you know what you need, appreciate the advice.
thanks
 
Hi Gerald,
I had no trouble getting a mortgage from EBS in May 2005. I was in very similar circumstances to you (abroad 6 years, paid in US$ to foreign account) except I was single at the time.
I said I would be coming back (which I subsequently did) in the next year, so I avoided Stamp Duty.
The amount of the mortgage was restricted to 75% however, because I was "working overseas".
I guess buying to rent would put you in Stamp Duty territory and liable for tax on the rental income.
 
jrewing said:
Hi Gerald,
I had no trouble getting a mortgage from EBS in May 2005. I was in very similar circumstances to you (abroad 6 years, paid in US$ to foreign account) except I was single at the time.
I said I would be coming back (which I subsequently did) in the next year, so I avoided Stamp Duty.
The amount of the mortgage was restricted to 75% however, because I was "working overseas".
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You may be able to do better than the 75% from EBS, that is the most they would offer me aswell but I ended up getting 90% from AIB and could have got 85% from one or two others.
 
jrewing said:
Hi Gerald,
I had no trouble getting a mortgage from EBS in May 2005. I was in very similar circumstances to you (abroad 6 years, paid in US$ to foreign account) except I was single at the time.
I said I would be coming back (which I subsequently did) in the next year, so I avoided Stamp Duty.
The amount of the mortgage was restricted to 75% however, because I was "working overseas".
I guess buying to rent would put you in Stamp Duty territory and liable for tax on the rental income.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input guys,
JR:
~so if i understand you, if you are buying for owner occupier you are not liable to stamp duty, is my understanding correct? (We are both first time buyers)
~This might be expecting a bit much but did you manage to secure mortgage from abroad, i.e over the phone, e-mail etc? I know its possible to get approval in principle in Ireland thru on-line questionnaires etc.
~would there be any financial advantage to buy 2 properties in our individual names rather than 2 properties as joint owners ? e.g first time buyers grant or not liable for stamp duty.

All your input is appreciated as we are on a steep learning curve here.
thx.
 
Gerald Broga said:
~so if i understand you, if you are buying for owner occupier you are not liable to stamp duty, is my understanding correct? (We are both first time buyers)
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Owner occupiers of new build properties are exempt from stamp duty whether they are FTBs or not. FTB owner occupiers of second hand houses up to €317,500 are exempt from SD and otherwise are on different rates than non FTBs. Obviously owner occupier means that you actually live in the property as your PPR (Principal Private Residence). FTB owner occupiers also qualify for higher rates of mortgage interest relief than non FTB owner occupiers.
~would there be any financial advantage to buy 2 properties in our individual names rather than 2 properties as joint owners ? e.g first time buyers grant or not liable for stamp duty.
Click to expand...
As a married couple you can only have one PPR. Any additional property purchases would be deemed investments and treated accordingly from a tax perspective.

On a more general point the following sites might be a source of useful information for you:


[broken link removed]
 
If you are buying from abroad the property will almost definitely be treated as an investment and therefore liable for stamp duty.

An addition to Clubman's post is that, FTBs/owner occupiers of new builds do not pay stamp duty as long as the size of the property does not exceed 1250 sq.ft. You must live in the property for 5 years or else there will be a stamp duty clawback.

Perhaps you could contact mortgage brokers here to see if the funds can be arranged from abroad. Personally, I doubt it but I'm not sure.

As far as I can see, there is no advantage in purchasing in sole names. The only time this might be advantageous is if you are intending to register for VAT, which is a whole topic in itself!
 
liteweight,
I see from JR post that he indicated his intention to move back to Ireland & into the house & he avoided the stamp duty, does this mean the house would have to be free of rent paying tenants or I would have to "hold" the house for a fixed period (5 years as per your post)in order for me to be stamp duty exempt ?
JR:
how did this work in your case ?
thx
 
Gerald,
Correct, I indicated it would become my principal residence, and it was below the SD value threshold, hence avoiding SD. In my case, this was true and I am now living in the house.

I got the mortgage while at home on vacation. I'm not sure how easy it would be to do it remotely.

As far as I know, as my principal residence, I can rent out one room and receive a certain level of income from same, providing I live there too. I am sure this topic is well covered elsewhere in AAM.

But yes, if I turned around tomorrow, let the whole house and moved somewhere else, they would come after my for the SD, retro-actively.
 
jrewing said:
As far as I know, as my principal residence, I can rent out one room and receive a certain level of income from same, providing I live there too. I am sure this topic is well covered elsewhere in AAM.
Click to expand...


As mentioned above you must be an owner occupier to avail of this. Otherwise it is an investment property situation and investor SD applies. Note that the SD clawback only applies if a property originally bought as an owner occupied PPR is subsequently rented out (other than under the rent a room scheme) within five years of purchase. However an owner occupier can otherwise sell their PPR and move without the SD clawback applying (i.e. it's not a case of having to live there for five years to avoid the clawback - a common misconception it seems).
 
Clubman is correct, my only excuse is that it was late!! FTB can sell property without clawback but cannot rent it. The rent-a-room allowance is 7600 approx. p.a. This would not apply to you though.
 
Sorry about bringing this 6-year-old thread back to life.... but my question is similarly related.

I'm Irish and I live abroad. I have been living abroad for the past 5 years or so and get paid into a foreign account - so no credit history to speak of in the past number of years in Ireland.

I want to buy an apartment to let in Dublin in the region of 150,000 euro and am looking for a 75% mortgage. I have significant cash reserves (over 100,000 euro) and save around 20,000 euro per year. The problem is that my income is relatively low (about 30,000 euro). I remember reading on another site that these days investors need an income of 75,000 euro or more?

Any ideas on what I can get from the banks? I'd be primarily interested in AIB since I have an existing account with them and would imagine they have a better understanding of me and that I have some sort of a credit history.

Stephen
 
Stephen82. Sorry to disappoint you but not a hope from AIB and I presume the others are not that much better for buy to let loans.
 
really? Even considering that I have almost enough cash reserves to buy outright? Or that even if a tenant couldn't be found I could easily cover the mortgage payments?

I know things are tough but that sounds kinda ridiculous. I mean they'd have the place as collateral after all...
 
They don't want the place though that's the problem, ability to repay is the number one criteria not the security and income from abroad was always a bit more difficult to get a mortgage with. Even in the good times 80% was the max you could get if income was outside the country, you are looking for 75%. I seriously doubt any bank is interested in this type of lending at the moment, your best bet might be to ask a broker, they should know if any bank is in this market.
 
stephen82 said:
really? Even considering that I have almost enough cash reserves to buy outright? Or that even if a tenant couldn't be found I could easily cover the mortgage payments?

I know things are tough but that sounds kinda ridiculous. I mean they'd have the place as collateral after all...
Click to expand...

Well why not just buy it outright?
 
I'd rather diversify my investments and as far as I know, up to 75% of the interest on a buy-to-let mortgage is tax deductable. But yes, if I have to, I will buy outright.
 
wbbs said:
They don't want the place though that's the problem, ability to repay is the number one criteria not the security and income from abroad was always a bit more difficult to get a mortgage with. Even in the good times 80% was the max you could get if income was outside the country, you are looking for 75%. I seriously doubt any bank is interested in this type of lending at the moment, your best bet might be to ask a broker, they should know if any bank is in this market.
Click to expand...

I was able to get a 100% mortgage even though my earnings were outside of the country, should the bank not have allowed this?
 
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