Because we receive so many enquiries from our British readers about the best way for them to go about getting a mortgage when buying a property abroad we have decided to dedicate a week’s worth of research and articles to examining fully the subject of European mortgages for UK property buyers abroad.
The four main European countries where British property buyers desire property are Spain, France, Italy and Portugal and these are the four markets we will be looking at all this week in our quest to provide the most comprehensive advice about European mortgages, international mortgages and British based mortgages to use when buying overseas real estate.
The British love affair with all things property has been expanding overseas for many years now and it’s unsurprising because not only are house prices in the UK now so high that it makes owning a second or even first home in the UK impossible for many, but European property offers such a better buy in terms of affordability and long term investment potential.
The nations of France, Italy, Portugal and the number one favourite holiday and property location of Spain are intensely in the British property buyer’s focus.
Each of these four nations are physically easily accessible from the UK, all nations have been targeted hard by the cheap flight operators that run from many of the British regional airports and not only that, each nation in turn has a far better climate than the UK and therefore offers buyers the chance to own a home in an accessible, affordable and warm and sunny location.
If you want to buy a home overseas you can go about paying for it in a number of ways – for example if you buy off plan you may be able to meet the stage payments as you earn income throughout the period over which your home is constructed or even get an off plan mortgage or property related finance agreement in place with your builder. If you have equity accrued on your principal residence in the UK you can re-mortgage to release that equity in the form of cash and use that to buy the property abroad – in which case you have effectively secured the purchase on your property back in the UK.
Alternatively you can get an international mortgage from an international bank or a local mortgage in the country in which you’re buying and these types of mortgage will be secured on the property you’re buying in France, Spain, Portugal or Italy.
The options available to you specifically naturally depend on many criteria and also your own personal preferences for raising real estate related finance. For example, you may wish to speak to a leading international bank like Barclays that has a local presence in the UK and a local presence in each of the nations we’re examining – namely France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Such an institution can naturally advise you on all your options in these four countries and is quite possibly best placed to assist you. If you click on the above highlighted link you are redirected to Barclays’ buying abroad pages where you can read all about their services and also request that they call you back to discuss your overseas mortgage options.
So, to conclude – all this week we will be dealing with European mortgages for UK property buyers abroad, highlighting your options and alternatives and hopefully revealing the right path for you to take depending on your own personal situation.
