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Overseas Mortgage

Overseas Mortgage

Old Jul 27th 2018, 9:35 pm
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Hello all! New member here and not yet an ex-pat. My wife and I currently rent in the UK and are planning to buy a home in Hungary to move into.

An overseas mortgage looks like a good option but we have no idea where to go. Can anyone here offer any advice on securing a mortgage to buy in Hungary whilst living and working in the UK?

I can provide more details if necessary... :-)

Thanks!
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Old Jul 27th 2018, 11:12 pm
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Old Jul 27th 2018, 11:21 pm
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Thanks Szeged!

I've read this one before. I've read a lot of general information. I was wondering if anyone had any more specific experience and advice.

Who to go to for the mortgage, for example? And who to avoid?! :-D

Stu
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Old Jul 28th 2018, 9:28 am
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Default Re: Overseas Mortgage

Originally Posted by StuSmith1981
I can provide more details if necessary... :-)Thanks!
Buying a holiday home here whilst resident abroad is one thing but buying a home IMO is different.
Caution is needed when buying property here, there is not the consumer protection from which the UK benefits. Also depending upon your circumstances there are government grants and support for house purchase for families (do you have any children?) that may make a Hungarian mortgage a better option - once you have moved. Also for houses buying a plot and building what you want is fairly common here so this may be an option worth considering. Depending upon the area plots are usually available (Difficult in the Budapest area, but then anything in Budapest is difficult/more expensive)

Do you have any family connection here, (otherwise why choose Hungary?)

The housing stock here is generally to a lower standard than you would expect in the UK, in particular with regard to doors, windows, heating systems, kitchens, bathrooms, wiring and insulation. This is because unlike the UK it has not been the practice to move house every few years which means that the usual upgrades done when someone moves into a house do not happen when people stay put for 20 years or more. So by the time you have done any upgrades deemed necessary a new build may be a better option.

What area are you considering?
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Old Jul 28th 2018, 12:46 pm
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Hi Peter. Thanks for the reply. We are looking to buy in Miskolc and live there, where my wife is from originally and has family. She is currently self employed and working remotely for an international company and I am currently working for a UK company but planning to go self-employed by the end of the year. Also working remotely for global clients. We have a two year old boy and plan to have more soon.

We do have the option to move first and stay with my wife's parents. My thinking was that it might be easier to secure a mortgage or loan whilst I'm still fully employed... trying to get as much info together as I can so all advice is much appreciated.

Thanks!
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Old Jul 28th 2018, 2:53 pm
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Miskolc is a nice part of the country (not too far from Tokja - Hic) - but choose the location carefully! ). The major grant that I suggested above is 10,000.000HUF free and another 10M on low interest but it requires 3 children or a commitment to have 3 children (read the T&Cs, applies to new build). The other grant that I know of is a no interest loan to cover an energy upgrade on an existing house which covers insulation, heating upgrade, boilers, and solar panels (PV or thermal, but IMO thermal today makes no sense). There are also grants for extensions but I am not sure of the T&Cs

Moving in with the in-laws is an option (bin there - dun that) and requires consideration from all sides however it would give the opportunity to look around without pressure to find the RIGHT place on a 2 week flying visit. We stuffed everything into an articulated lorry came to Hungary, moved into a 1.5 room panel flat with the in-law (2 kids, the Labrador and the mother-in-law) and then took 6 months looking for the right place. 25 years on we are still here ! (now with grandchildren!).

Whether it would be better to a mortgage in the UK or here I couldn't say, but I would suggest you inquire as to what happens if you move out of the UK .I am sensing that BREXIT is giving the financial industry cold feet. My UK credit card that has a good history has just been closed after 50 years of use without any reason given, other than I do not have a UK address. I can only suspect that the financial industry is getting cold feet about chasing bad debts without the cross boarder EU regs. so my credit card co.is closing all accounts that do not have a UK resident owner. It could be that if you move out of the UK you might need to repay the mortgage. (some UK mortgages on foreign property have the mortgages secured on a UK property due to the difficulties of repossessing in a foreign country in the event of a default)
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Old Jul 29th 2018, 8:44 am
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Default Re: Overseas Mortgage

Funny enough my wife is from Miskolc too! Her parents and sister now live in Malyi. When I'm in Malyi in the summer months I can be frequently found at Malyi-To with friends enjoying a shot of palinka or drinking barna sor! If you buy a property in Miskolc or surrounding area who will look after it when you are in the UK? Unless you know the area really well I would advise to move in with the in-laws or rent somewhere until you find the right property. You will have to be 110% confident of keeping up with your overseas mortgage payments once you move to Hungary.

Peter_in_Hungary - thanks for the mention about your UK credit card account being closed. This is something I'm going to look into and will be contacting my bank to find out if they will close my bank accounts when I no longer have a UK address!
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Old Jul 29th 2018, 9:56 am
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Default Re: Overseas Mortgage

Originally Posted by FenTiger
Peter_in_Hungary - thanks for the mention about your UK credit card account being closed. This is something I'm going to look into and will be contacting my bank to find out if they will close my bank accounts when I no longer have a UK address!
If you want to keep your UK bank account then get the posting address changed to Hungary (if you have not already done so) and say nothing, just wait for the bank to do something.

I got an account (GBP) with Santander International who were happy to give me an account and a debit card and the account behaves like a UK account in that you can transfer funds to and from UK banks within the UK banking system (The bank account issue was a couple of months earlier and the credit card was last week (Barclaycard which I have (had) for over 50 years! )).
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Old Jul 29th 2018, 6:56 pm
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Default Re: Overseas Mortgage

Thanks for the replies!

As I understand it, an overseas mortgage would have to be with a bank in Hungary anyway. My thinking was that my credit score is good here and, as I'm fully employed with a decent salary, my chances of getting an overseas mortgage would be higher now than after I hand in my notice and start being fully self-employed.

On my wife's side there's some complication as right now she's in the middle of renegotiating a contract and may become fully employed by her primary client. This does mean at the moment I don't think a lender would consider her position very stable.

If we were to move first would that not reduce our likelihood of getting the mortgage we require as I'd no longer be fully employed and salaried?

We really need to work out the best order to do things in.

At least at the moment my wife is able to fly out there and continue to work for any period of time so she can look at places with her family whilst I'm still here working. The only downside is that I get a bit lonely at home alone!
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