Expat Mortgages – Leverage your UK Property to Buy a Home in France
A case study exploring how Giraffe Private Finance helped a British couple living on the Riviera release 377,000€ from their UK property to buy their dream home in France
Expat mortgages are specialist products in a niche area of the lending market. Verification of the applicant’s income and other financial information while they are living abroad is difficult, so lenders tighten their eligibility criteria in order to compensate for the extra risk, making them more complicated to secure than traditional mortgages. Expat lenders are very cautious about who they lend to, so the main challenge is finding the right bank to suit your profile.
Giraffe Private Finance is highly experienced in working with these specialist expat lenders. We source finance from across the UK mortgage market, including high street, private and offshore banks. We are familiar with their individual eligibility criteria so we can identify which ones will be suitable based on your particular situation and circumstances.
We recently helped a British couple living on the Riviera release 377,000€ from their UK property to fulfil the minimum deposit required to buy their dream home in France. We approached 24 banks and presented the couple with a comparison of the most competitive mortgage options from across the market. Based on their needs, we were able to secure a Let-to-Buy mortgage, allowing them to access some of the equity built up in their UK home by renting it instead of selling it.This facilitated the 20% down payment needed to purchase their French property, as well as to keep their UK home as a long term investment.
Other mortgage strategies are available for expats who already own, or wish to own, property in the UK – even for the retired and self-employed.
At Giraffe Private Finance, we advise & navigate our clients through the entire process from start to finish, handling issues & smoothing any bumps along the way.
In obtaining a mortgage approval for our clients, we will take care of all the paperwork and act as a single point of contact as we liaise with the mortgage lender, solicitor, and surveyors on your behalf. We can also advise on and arrange life insurance for expats. Kathryn Turner, Founder of Giraffe Private Finance, is offering a free consultation to understand your objectives, financial situation and circumstances. For a limited time, she is also offering to donate 10€ to a charity of your choice for readers of this newsletter in return for giving her your case to research. You can contact her at kathryn@giraffeprivatefinance.com.