Those who decided to purchase property overseas are finding it difficult to keep up with their equity mortgage. Falling values have led many into a situation of a negative equity mortgage and there are few places to turn for help at this time, until property values come back up.
“This also has the benefit of allowing émigrés the opportunity to decide which area of the new country they want to live in, prior to making a commitment to purchase. Also, if for some reason things don’t work out as expected and émigrés want to return home, it is simpler to return to the UK and avoid all the purchase costs such as stamp duty and estate agents costs, of buying a new home,” stated Mark Bodega, director at HiFX.
“For a rented property to ‘pay for itself’ then émigrés need to secure a rental income of at least 1.25 times the mortgage payments; however some deals allow as little as 1.1 times. They should also change from a residential to a buy-to-let mortgage, which is fairly straightforward as long as you have 25 per cent equity in the property, although some lenders will allow as little as 15 per cent on some products.”
Related reading: Equity Mortgages
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