Mortgages for expats

Hi there -
I am a six-year veteran ex-pat with no property or other assets in Ireland but am thinking of buying, provided I can get a mortgage.

Does anyone know or have any recommendations for lenders who provide such mortgages?

Thanks in advance.

Rudy, covered in sand!

I'm sure you'd just apply as normal....

I have friends (a couple) from Ireland living in the UK, they were looking ( over the last year or so) for a small mortgage (120k) to purchase a house in their home town. They approached BoI and AIB (not sure about others) and were refused. If any expat has succeeded in getting a mortgage, I am sure they would be interested in knowing more ...

It is nigh on impossible to secure finance from overseas.
If you do apply, you would need to have a deposit of 50%+ and be in secure, well paid employment.
How secure and how well paid?
If you need to ask then your employment is probably not secure and not well paid enough..

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Hi RudyQatar

I only started using this site yesterday so my posting is probably a little late.

I am Irish and I have been living in Australia for approx 12 years. I have recently been thinking about moving home (yes great timing) and of course because of the recent property price crash, this gave me the opportunity to start looking at purchasing, which I have been looking into since about March 2010.

I had been using a few different Irish brokers between March and August, all of whom have been using various strategies to try and secure a loan for me, but to no avail. They have approached all of the major Irish lenders. I have approx 70% of the purchase price in cash, so in effect I would be looking at a very small loan. I have a well paid job in Oz and I have no outstanding debts.

The resounding response from pretty much all of the lenders (I believe 12 in all were approached) was that I had to be paying tax in Ireland for a minimum of 1 year even to be considered. The brokers said that they were struggling to get loans for strong Irish applicants, so trying to secure a loan for an overseas applicant looked like a a bit of a challenge to say the least. I gave up a couple of months ago and I am now trying to buy a property without a mortgage.

If you do manage to find a lender, although given recent developments I would suggest this is going to be even less likely, please let me know.

Regards
Salida

Salida, as you were trying to get only a small loan, was it also impossible to borrow that as an unsecured loan in Australia? I know it wouldn't be ideal, as the interest rate on a personal loan would be higher and there would be an exchange rate risk after you return to Ireland - having to transfer money over to Australia to pay the loan. But presumably you would be able to get a mortgage or a personal loan in Ireland after a year of working and paying tax, and use it to repay the Australian loan.
Or is this totally out of the question?

Of course, this wouldn't help people who need to borrow substantial amounts to buy a house, as nobody would lend such amounts as unsecured loans. But maybe in your case it might help?

I know somebody who managed to get a mortgage and buy a house in Ireland shortly after returning from Australia - but that was about 7 years ago and even then she had to use her father as a guarantor. Banks probably aren't even accepting guarantors now.

Hi Greta
Thanks for the post and thanks for the suggestion. Yes, so I did approach an Australian bank for a personal loan after having no joy with the Irish lenders. The personal loan interest rate was something incredible like 14%, so I decided against it. Also as you mentioned, there was the risk with the exchange rate on the repayments.

Moreover, it is highly likely that I may not secure work in Ireland when I return home so there's that as well. My way of thinking now is to go for a cheaper property where I don't need a loan - so this would be a 2 bed apartment (as I have been discussing in another post titled 'full cash ourchase for apartment in dublin'). It would be second preference over a house of course, however there would be no mortgage involved.

Thanks again for the post
Salida

Don't dismiss the rental option out of hand, I believe there is good value in rental property at the moment in Ireland.

Salida said:

Moreover, it is highly likely that I may not secure work in Ireland when I return home so there's that as well.

Click to expand...

Why would you want to purchase something if you are going to be unemployed?

I am abroad and never had any problem getting a mortgage on investment property, but that was during the boom when they were shovelling out money. Also I already had a property in Ireland. Strange that with 70% of the purchase price one can't get a mortgage. But I do know for example that Ulster Bank only give 50% currently for investment mortgages.

We're not allowed discuss property prices, but my advice would be to save as much as you can and when you do come back purchase then. I wouldn't be too enamoured with the quality, size and management issues of 2 bed apartments in most anywhere in Ireland.

Hi Bronte

It's a fair question. I guess what I was trying to say was that given the current unemployment situation in Ireland I believe I would find it difficult to secure work, like hundreds of thousands of Irish people are.

I would suggest that securing a mortgage whilst abroad now is probably different to how it was during boom time. I can only speak for myself and they would not give me a loan - I had to be paying tax in Ireland for a minimum of 1 year to be considered.

Thanks for your feedback.

Cheers
Salida