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Bridging Finance Exit – mixed use pub with 6 flats – Case Study

The Client: 

The application was put through in joint names for two Foreign Nationals. Both clients resided in the UK on working visas.  

The Scenario: 

The applicants had previously purchased a mixed-use pub/residential property on a Bridging loan. They had refurbed it and brought it up to a high spec. Pubs are difficult to finance generally, and the flats above are broken up in to 3 x 1 beds and 3 x studios of which some are under 30sqm. The pub was leased and achieving regular rent, and the flats had been let to an agent with guaranteed rental scheme on a 2-year agreement.  

The Solution: 

Being a whole-of-market Broker, we had the knowledge that some lenders will consider pubs up to a certain loan to value, typically 60%. We also understand that some lenders will accept flats smaller than the usual 30sqm rule, and on top of that will allow 2 year leases on a guaranteed rent scheme. We covered the exit off the Bridging loan and raised some extra capital on top which allowed the client to reinvest.  

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Summary: 

It is possible to get lending on extremely complicated setups and situations that would seen as undesirable to most lenders.   

Key things to consider for Expat / Foreign national income: 

  • Some lenders will accept Foreign Nationals. 
  • Some lenders will consider pubs up to a certain loan to value. 
  • Some lenders will allow lending on flats smaller than 30 sqm. 
  • Some lenders will accept 2 year leases direct to management companies/agents on a guaranteed rent scheme. 

If you have any questions about Bridging Finance or Expat / Foreign National mortgages, or would just like a Free Quotation then please call us now on +44 1494 622 555 today. Alternatively please fill in our online enquiry form now and one of our Commercial Finance Brokers will call you back. 

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Residential Purchase with Foreign Currency Income – Case Study

The Client:

The clients were husband and wife. The husband was the sole earner, and on a very good income. The difficulty arose with the currency he was paid in – Saudi Dirhams, as he was working for a Saudi company.

The Scenario:

The clients had saved a good deposit and had a very low credit card use, along with no bad credit or dependants. The main credit they had was a large car loan which had recently been arranged. The issue we were facing was that lenders who accept foreign income sometimes take a haircut (reduce affordability) to account for any potential future fluctuation in the currency exchange rate.

The Solution:

Being a whole-of-market Mortgage Broker, we have the knowledge to know that some lenders will accept foreign income for UK based residents to purchase a residential property in the UK. We approached these lenders to make sure we could cross reference the best deal with the lender that accepts the specific currency in question. They were happy with the case, and the affordability worked easily.

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Summary:

It is possible to use sole income that is earned through a company outside of the UK, in a foreign currency.

Key things to consider for foreign income:

  • Some lenders will accept foreign currency, it can vary lender to lender which currency they will accept.
  • Some lenders will apply a haircut to the amount to account for future changes.
  • Some lenders will allow you to live in the UK, but work for a foreign company.

Please get in touch today with our dedicated team of Specialist Mortgage Advisers for any Remortgage or Mortgage questions you might have. Call us now on +44 1494 622 555. Alternatively, you can also fill in this short online form and we will get back to you straight away.

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Expat Limited Company Buy to Let Remortgage – Case Study

The Client:

The client had a large portfolio of 17 properties. The properties were of mixed ownership comprising of personal name, Limited Company with his wife and Limited Company with his sister. Clients’ sister lives in Australia and although a Shareholder of the Limited Company, not an active Director.

The Scenario:

Two of the properties under the Limited Company entity with client’s sister as 50/50 Shareholder were coming to the end of their fixed rate, therefore required remortgaging. These were previously done through Commercial Finance Network on Expat mortgage basis, which required both applicants to be on the application. The task here was to find the best possible deal, in a difficult marketplace where Expat rates have increased a lot.

The Solution:

Being a whole-of-market Broker, we have the knowledge to know that some lenders have no overall portfolio limits and do not restrict ownership, loan to value or overall rental stress. We also are aware that there are lenders that will consider Limited Companies without taking shareholders into consideration, if they are not a Director. We therefore sourced the deal based on the UK applicant to see if we could bypass the Expat deals and secure a normal Limited Company buy to let deal exclusively for UK based clients.

The lender we found did exactly as we thought. They would only need the Director of the company to apply, disregarding any Shareholders in the background. This in turn gave us access to a far better deal than we would have been able to achieve if both shareholders were required on the application.

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Summary:

It is possible to achieve something with lots of challenges and moving parts. It’s just about knowing the lenders and having experience with their criteria.

Key things to consider for portfolio landlord remortgage of properties with a UK Director/shareholder, and an Expat shareholder.

  • Some lenders have no restrictive limits on your existing portfolio
  • Some lenders are happy to lend to the director of the company only, and discount the shareholder
  • It is possible to get standard limited company buy to let rates for a complicated structure that involves an expat

Please get in touch today with our dedicated team of Specialist Mortgage Advisers for any Remortgage or Mortgage questions you might have. Call us now on +44 1494 622 555. Alternatively, you can also fill in this short online form and we will get back to you straight away.

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Expat Residential for family member in UK purchase – Case Study

The Client:

The client is a UK national who lives and works in Angola. She is on a fixed term contract for 3 years and has a good income with no bad credit.  

The Scenario:

The client was looking to purchase a second residential property in the UK for her Mother, who currently resides in Scotland. This can create multiple issues; one of which is that the client is in Angola and on a fixed term contract. It is also worth noting however, once the contract comes to an end, the client will remain employed with the same company back in the UK on a lower salary.

Another issue the client may face is looking for a second residential mortgage, the market for lenders who will lend on properties located in Scotland for an Expat is small and narrows our field of potential lenders and ensuring it works on affordability.

The Solution:

Being a whole-of-market Broker, we have the knowledge to know that some lenders will have more flexible affordability scoring for Expats than others. We managed to find a lender that was happy with the country of residence, but it’s always worth checking as some African countries are not. The lender accepted the second residential aspect and the fact it was in Scotland. We had to make sure the affordability would still work on the lower salary moving forward, which it did.

Discover our Expat Mortgage Broker services.

Summary:

Trying to purchase a second residential home as an expat can be difficult depending on the country you reside in, and fitting affordability calculations that expat lenders use. However, there are options. The country the property is being purchased in also comes into it.

Key things to consider for Expat Residential Mortgages when you’re an Expat and already own another property:

  • Income and affordability
  • Country of residence
  • Country of purchase
  • Will the lender even allow a second residential?
  • Any changes to future income that might affect it

If you are an Expat or Foreign National and seeking some preliminary free mortgage advice, call our experienced Expat Mortgage Broker Team today on +44 1494 622 555. Alternatively please complete this short online form and one of our Advisors will call you right back.

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Expat Buy to Let Remortgage – Case Study

The Client
A UK National who had relocated to Australia 4 Years ago. They were existing homeowners and had secured full time employment since moving overseas.

The Scenario
The client was wanting to remortgage their former residential address in the UK onto an Expat Buy to Let Mortgage. The existing UK residential mortgage had been on consent to let however the lender was no longer willing to keep the mortgage running due to the client now being permanently based overseas.
Many lenders who offer Expat Buy to Let Mortgages require the borrower to be employed by a multi-national company, which was not however the case for the individual. The client had advised their preference was to secure a 5 Year fixed rate.

Contact us today to discuss Expat Mortgages and how we can assist you.

The Solution
After reviewing the current mortgage market to see who was offering the best 5 Year fixed rates for Expat Buy to Let Mortgages, we referred the client’s circumstances onto the lender who at the time, offered the cheapest rate. Their standard criteria were as per above, where employed applicants ideally needed to be employed by multi-national companies, however due to the client working in a respected profession, they were able to accept his employment and subsequently provide a longer term mortgage with a highly competitive 5 Year fixed interest rate.

Summary
Since Brexit, securing Expat Mortgages has certainly become a more difficult task, often Brokers will read the stated criteria and disregard lenders if their clients do not “fit” 100%. That is why it is important to use a Specialist Expat Mortgage Broker, who have Advisers with vast experience in the Expat mortgage market who are on hand to find the best solution for your Expat mortgage enquiry and will go the extra mile to ensure you are getting the very best advice for even the most complex scenarios.

If you are an Expat or Foreign National, with or without a clean credit history and seeking an Expat Remortgage or new Expat Mortgage, or just some preliminary free mortgage advice, call our experienced Expat Mortgage Broker Team today on +44 1494 622 555. Alternatively please complete this short online form and one of our Advisors will call you right back.

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Expat First Time Buyer with Adverse Credit – Case Study

The Client
The clients are both Expats currently based in the UAE, working full time and looking to purchase their first home back in the UK in which they would reside in for 1/3 of the Year.

The Scenario
Following our free assessment of their current personal and financial circumstances, it was made clear one of the applicants had some adverse credit on multiple credit accounts within the last 6 years. This added an additional layer of complexity that our whole of market experienced brokers would need to find a solution for. Combining this with their Expat status meant that the number of lending options were limited. However, as a result of the second applicant having a perfect clean credit history it helped the situation, as well as the clients’ having a healthy 20% deposit.

Contact us today to discuss Expat Mortgages and how we can assist you.

The Solution
Having discussed the case directly with multiple Expat Residential Mortgage Lenders, two Lenders came back with the best options for the client. One of the Lenders advised however that an application / offer would be subject to the individual underwriter’s own discretion and therefore it presented a risk of potential decline and delay for our clients.

Therefore, the second lender was chosen due to both the clients fitting well on their standard criteria. A Decision in Principle (DIP) was secured within 24 hours and two weeks later our clients had an offer accepted on their dream first home; which we were able to secure a highly competitive interest rate with an 80% Loan to Value (LTV).

Summary
Clients with adverse credit usually believe that it will be difficult to obtain a mortgage, however working with a Specialist Expat Mortgage Broker, our Mortgage Advisers have many years of experience finding solutions for complex scenarios including Expats & Foreign Nationals, as well as those with adverse credit. Our clients are regularly surprised at how competitive the mortgage interest rates we are able to secure them are.

Therefore, if you are an Expat or Foreign National with or without a clean credit history, call our Mortgage Adviser Team today on +44 1494 622 555 to find your dream home today. Alternatively please fill in this short online form and a member of the team will call you right back.

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Expat Buy to Let – Case Study

The Client
The Client is an Expat and Teacher who has been working in Thailand for more than 6 years for a company based in the UK. Their husband works for a major holiday booking company and has been working with them for more than 5 years.

After an initial conversation, looking at their criteria and based on their country of residence, it was going to be challenging since some lenders have a restrictive list of countries that they lend to.

The Scenario
The clients had been saving from their income and had saved a healthy deposit and had found a property that was best suited for the rental returns they were looking to achieve. The clients were putting down 30% deposit and needed a Specialist Mortgage Adviser who was experienced in dealing with Expat Mortgages.

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The Solution
Initially we considered looking at a certain High Street Lender who lend to Expats through their international business arm, however, due to their restrictive list, we had to look at our wider whole of market specialist Lenders. Not only was the selected Lender able to provide the client with an Expat mortgage, but the whole process was also quick and seamless, and we were able to lock in the product for the client the same day. In this current volatile market, this is essential as the interest rates for lenders have been changing frequently. Any delays in the process could mean that the clients could end up with worse deal, since the interest rates are mostly on an upward trajectory at the moment.

Summary
A lot of international Lenders are keen to lend to Expat clients, however, many restrict their market depending on the countries they support. The speed and expertise of service in this market that we can provide could mean that we are able to source the best products for our client before there is any active movement in the market.

If you have any questions about Foreign National or Expat Residential or Buy to Let Mortgages and would like to receive a free quotation or advice, please call +44 1494 622 555.  today. You can also fill in this short online form to get started. A member of our Specialist Expat Mortgage Team will get back to you straight away.

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Expat Residential Mortgage – Case Study

The Client:

Our client is an Expat working as a Sales Director and living in Hong Kong until recently when he moved to Japan. The client works for a UK based multi-national company and earns good income with most of his overseas expenses also being paid by the company.

The Scenario:

The Client was seeking an Expat Residential Mortgage to enable him to purchase a property for him and his family to live in upon their upcoming return to the UK. The client had a handsome 40% deposit.

Contact us today to discuss Expat Mortgages and how we can assist you.

The Solution:

Being a whole-of-market Broker, we could easily offer standard Expat mortgage rates and terms to this client as we have access to all of the Expat Mortgage Lenders, including the specialist lenders.

However, through our specialist Expat knowledge and experience along with the clients’ strong credit profile and large deposit, we were actually able to offer

him standard UK Resident (non expat) mortgage rates, even though they were still living in Japan. This was an excellent outcome for the client as the rate secured was an overall 1.1% cheaper than the cheapest Expat market rate that the client was eligible for.

Summary:

When looking for a “Buy to Live” property it is important to remember that a family member will have to occupy the property when the mortgage holder is abroad, as the property cannot be left vacant since this would invalidate the buildings insurance.

Key things to consider for Expat Mortgages:

  • Certain currencies will not be accepted by Lenders- usually if the currencies is considered volatile.
  • Expat Mortgage Interest Rates are usually higher than standard (UK Resident) mortgage rates.
  • Lenders’ Arrangement Fees are usually a percentage of the loan rather than a  flat / fixed fee.
  • The client/s will need an active bank account and credit footprint in the UK.
  • Loan to Values are typically lower.

To know more and speak to one of our Expat Mortgage Experts, call us now on +44 1494 622 555. You can also fill in this short online form to get started. Our team of Expat Mortgage Experts will get back to you straight away.

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Expat Remortgage Interest Only Adverse Credit – Case Study

The Client:

Our client lives in Canada and has a residential property in the UK that she has been letting out since she left the country in 2016. As a UK-born resident, the client moved to Singapore initially and then on to Canada to live. The property is currently on shared ownership with the client wishing to purchase the property up to 75% and remove the shared ownership aspect entirely.

The client has good income and an established job, however she does have some adverse credit including missed mortgage payments. One missed mortgage payment was just over a year ago, and the other two within the last three years.

Contact us today to discuss Expat Mortgages and how we can assist you.

The Scenario:

Initially the client wanted an Expat capital and interest mortgage, however once we established the clients’ full circumstances there were multiple factors to consider. Points for considerations included, the fact there is the adverse credit, no other property is owned and the client used to live in the subject property. We also had to be mindful of the fact that the majority of lenders that would be considered more ‘specialist’ in the Expat sphere do not offer capital and interest. There are also some lenders that simply do not allow a remortgage away from shared ownership.

The Solution:

A five year fixed mortgage was always going to be the only option in regard to rental affordability. However, once we’d checked the case with the mainstream Lenders due to the issues identified above when all put together, the case unfortunately didn’t fit with any of them.

However, we found a Specialist Lender that was comfortable with what was regarded as “consumer lending” by many, and they had criteria on missed mortgage payments, but only within the last year. Additionally, the Specialist Expat Lender was fine with the shared ownership aspect, and they also offered capital and interest mortgages.

With the benefit of our specialist advice the client was able to make an informed decision. The client was keen on capital and interest as previously mentioned. However, it left the client very close to coverage required due to the rental amount received – also, as they were paying management fees it didn’t fit with the Lender overall on this basis. We therefore suggested the client opt for an Expat Interest only mortgage – reason being that while the Lender put forward doesn’t allow intermittent overpayments, they do allow the client to pay it all off within the 5 year fixed without any Early Redemption Charges (ERCs).

In this scenario, as long as the client keeps their credit clean, in a couple of years, they will probably be able to remortgage to a better lender, change it to Capital and Interest mortgage and actually pay less and there won’t be any exorbitant early redemption charges. The client was delighted by this solution as it ultimately ticked all her boxes.

Key Factors to consider for Expat Mortgages UK:

  • Not all Expat Lenders offer capital and interest.
  • Adverse credit makes Expat Mortgage Lending Specialist and also limited.
  • A lot of these Expat Lenders consider if you’ve ever lived in the UK and have any other properties in the UK.
  • Remortgaging away from shared ownership isn’t widely available.

To know more and speak to one of our Expat Mortgage Experts, call us now on +44 1494 622 555. You can also fill in this short online form to get started. Our team of Expat Mortgage Experts will get back to you straight away.

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Expat Case Study – Expat Buy to Let Purchase

The Client:

The client is an Expat looking to purchase a flat on a Buy to Let basis in London. The client came to us having previously instructed another Mortgage Broker for the same application, as the other broker was moving at a too slow a pace. This caused the vendor to become anxious and potentially could’ve resulted in the deal being lost due to pace at which the London market was moving.

The Scenario:

We were able to provide the client with quotes for some excellent rates within the same day and we were ready to submit a full mortgage application in 24 hours. The client was putting in deposit, some from savings and the remainder from a remortgage on their existing flat that they own in London.

Contact us today to discuss Expat Mortgages and how we can assist you.

The Solution:

We were able to submit the applications for both the properties within 24 hours and were able to achieve a mortgage offer on the Expat Buy to Let mortgage within 3 weeks of the application being submitted. This was an excellent outcome as Expat mortgages typically tend to take a bit longer due to difficult Underwriting process, time differences and the logistical challenges in different countries.

The Expat client was extremely happy with the outcome and within the timescales it took from her initial Mortgage Broker to reply, we had already achieved a mortgage offer for them.

We work with the client’s expectations all the time and can achieve excellent outcomes in record times. This is due to our excellent Customer Service and Case Management platform (WiiN) which provides real-time updates for clients 24/7/365 and their overcomes time zone issues. Additionally, the fact that our clients can speak to their Dedicated Mortgage Advisor and Dedicated Case manager from application to completion, which saves them hours speaking to different people each time who are unfamiliar of the status of the case etc. This helps take the jargon out of the applications and helps us give our clients a very personal and efficient approach.

Key Points to consider:

Things to consider when discussing finance with Expat clients:

  • Interest rates are higher for Expat Mortgages.
  • Lender’s arrangement fees are usually a percentage of the loan rather than a flat fee.
  • Loan to Values can be restricted.
  • Check to see what credit footprint they still have in the UK – will need an active UK bank account.
  • Certain countries will not be accepted by lenders, below are 2 links to the Financial Action Task Force for countries with increased monitoring or calls for action. Other lenders will use the Basel scale, link also provided below:

    Financial Action Task Force
    Basel Scale

  • Certain foreign currencies will not be accepted by Lenders, usually if the currencies is volatile.

To know more and speak to one of our Expat Mortgage Experts, call us now on +44 1494 622 555. You can also fill in this short online form to get started. Our team of Expat Mortgage Experts will get back to you straight away.