Lenders who will consider a borrower abroad are choosing to take a kind of complexity. They look at you, at the income, and at a property they can value and, if needed, enforce against. Their willingness changes. Nothing here tells you that you will be offered a loan, or on what terms.
What they are looking at
Where you live and where you are tax resident. Where the income is earned and in which currency. Other debts. The deposit, and where it sits. The property: title, value, and whether it is a type they lend on. A holiday home, a rental and a house you will live in can be different propositions to the same lender. Say which it is.
Currency is part of affordability
If you earn in one currency and repay in another, a move in the rate changes the cost of the debt in the currency you are paid. Some people borrow in the currency of their income. Some borrow in the currency of the property. Either can be uncomfortable. Ask the lender which they offer, and ask yourself which swing you can live with. This is not a recommendation to borrow in either.
Process, not a promise
A decision in principle is a conversation. An offer is on a named property, after a valuation and after their checks. Between the two, a reservation deadline can expire. Do not exchange, or send a non-refundable deposit, on the strength of a headline. The comparison page lists questions lenders are asked. It does not list lenders or rates.
An expat mortgage is a loan assessed around a life in more than one country
Lenders use the phrase for borrowers who live, earn or bank outside the country of the property, or sometimes outside the lender’s country. The assessment is still a credit decision. Income, the property, the deposit and the lender’s view of the countries involved all sit in it. There is no standard loan-to-value, rate or eligibility rule, and this guide will not invent one. Ask the specific lender what they will consider for this property and this income, and ask which documents they want.
Currency is part of the risk they look at and part of the risk you live with. A loan in one currency and earnings in another means a movement in the rate changes the cost of the debt in the currency you earn. Ask which currencies they lend in. Ask what happens if you later move again or if the income they assessed stops. A mortgage that is affordable on today’s rate and today’s salary still needs a conversation about the version of your life that is less convenient.
Get the offer in a form you can compare
Ask for the rate, the fees you can see, the term, and whether the rate can change. Ask what security they take and whether anyone else must guarantee. Ask how they want the deposit to be shown, because a gifted deposit and a saved deposit are documented differently. Compare those sheets. A friendly conversation is not an offer.
The lender’s yes is not tax advice and not a valuation of whether the property is a sound purchase. Keep the offer, the valuation if you are shown it, and your own note of the currency risk. If you are buying with someone else, ask how the title will be held and whether the lender requires a particular form of ownership. Sort that before you pay a reservation that assumes a structure you have not checked.
A practical checklist
- Residence and income described accurately.
- Currency of income and of the proposed loan written down.
- Other debts disclosed.
- Deposit source documented.
- Independent lawyer, not only the lender’s valuer.
- No completion date that assumes an offer you do not have.
Questions to ask
- Do you lend to someone resident where I am, on a property where this is?
- Which income do you count?
- Which currencies can the loan be in?
- What deposit do you expect, as a question rather than a number I invent?
- What happens if I later move again?
- Is life cover required, and in whose name?
Common mistakes
- Treating a home-country approval as portable.
- Hiding a change of employment.
- Ignoring the exchange rate on the repayment.
- Letting the agent’s broker be the only opinion.
- Forgetting that the lender may require buildings insurance.
WiT Access provides general information and comparison resources. Nothing on this website constitutes financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Always consider obtaining advice from an appropriately qualified professional.
