If you’ve applied for an expat mortgage and been turned down – or found it hard to find a lender who offers this type of loan, you’ll know why support from an independent broker is so essential!
Expat mortgages are possible, but it can be challenging to find competitive rates without industry know-how.
Today the Revolution Brokers team explains why your choice of broker is so important and what we can do to streamline the process.
Using a Broker to Find an Expat Mortgage
UK expat mortgage brokers, such as Revolution, specialise in supporting clients who need a mortgage to buy a property here or overseas.
Mortgages for expats are less common, more expensive, and application assessments can be complex. Most lenders will also have stricter affordability requirements.
A lot of the difficulty is resolved by working with a broker, so we’ll advise:
- Which lenders are most likely to approve your application?
- The countries where lenders won’t lend against a property.
- ID checks required and eligible income streams for affordability checks.
- Which deposit sources you can use as a mortgage down payment.
- How to find the lowest rates and more attractive terms.
There are also niche lenders that don’t market directly to the public but offer broker-exclusives, potentially saving a considerable amount of money!
Benefits of Having an Expat Mortgage Broker
Given the smaller size of the international mortgage market and the issues around income regulations, a broker can make applying for an expat mortgage much faster and cheaper.
Advantages of having a broker on your side include:
- More lender options – we know which expat mortgage providers to apply to and can recommend different mortgages depending on whether you want an interest-only product, self-employed mortgage or a buy to let expat loan.
- Cost efficiencies – Revolution negotiates on your behalf, finds lower interest rates, and provides a like-for-like comparison to help you make informed choices about which expat mortgages offer the best value for money.
- Faster approvals – our team will assess your application for completeness and compliance before submission, so you can skip over some of the common delays and get your mortgage approved quickly.
Finally, an expat mortgage broker is essential to provide expert advice, ensuring you know some of the issues with being a non-resident buyer and ways to improve your mortgage approval prospects.
How to Find Expat Mortgage Advice
The best way to ensure you’re applying for the right expat mortgage is to work with an independent, whole-of-market broker with experience in the expat-borrowing sector.
There are many considerations, such as exchange rates, so guidance is key to choosing the most beneficial deal.
For example, even a slight exchange rate fluctuation can make a significant impact on your monthly repayments, so we might suggest pre-booking currency or opting for a multi-currency expat mortgage depending on where you live and your income currency.
Revolution Brokers can also provide independent support with other aspects of taking out an expat mortgage, such as:
- Information on local property laws.
- Guidance around likely tax liabilities.
- Licensing or customs considerations.
It’s vital you know all of the costs associated with your expat mortgage, as these can make a difference, so we demonstrate comparable products to compare things like early repayment penalties and arrangement fees.
Overcoming Expat Mortgage Challenges
One of the frequent issues for expats is that international lending is inherently more risky for the lender, so the affordability checks they run are much stricter than for standard UK residential mortgages.
Part of this is down to money-laundering regulations.
Therefore, an expat mortgage lender needs to look at where your income originates, in which currency, and why. For example, that could be through permanent employment, running your own business, or a pension.
They’ll also ask about your deposit source and need to verify the authenticity of those funds before moving forward with the application.
Suppose you have a deposit that comes from savings, an inheritance (after probate) or a gift from an immediate family member. In that case, you’ll usually be able to prove the origin of the deposit without much difficulty.
However, if someone outside of your close family has gifted you a deposit, it might mean that you have fewer lenders to apply to, who will consider this an acceptable deposit source.
Expert Expat Mortgage Advice
If you’re looking to take out an expat mortgage for a property in the UK or overseas, professional advice is essential to ensure you’re applying to suitable lenders with competitive interest rates.
Please get in touch at 0330 304 3040 or email the team at [email protected] for more information about expat mortgages and to evaluate which lenders will be best positioned to approve your application.
As a whole-of-market broker, we can recommend any product from any mortgage provider we think offers the most beneficial terms for your expat mortgage requirements.
You may be interested in: How Low Mortgage Rates Impact the Housing Markets