Portugal Realty
In this tough financial climate we continue to find ourselves, many are left with their assets floundering in the wind, so to speak! Resale properties have traditionally incurred a transfer tax based on the property value and purpose of the property, with rates potentially reaching 8% of the property's value in certain cases. In the current market environment it has become more difficult to release funds from your existing property and rates are higher than for a standard acquisition mortgage.
Once you've found a property in the Algarve to buy then the mortgage approval process can be completed fairly quickly. There's no such thing as a ‘buy-to-let mortgage' in Portugal, banks do not differentiate their offering. Fiscal residents in Portugal (i.e., those who pay tax there) may be able to borrow up to 85-90% of the sale price in some cases.
The table above shows essential details of selected mortgage products offered to retail customers by the banks in Portugal: currency, borrowing rate per annum, lending amount and mortgage term. There have been times when banks have been careless and greedy in using the money of their depositors.
Portuguese mortgage lenders offer opportunities for foreigners to secure a mortgage loan. The early redemption penalty for a variable-rate acquisition mortgage is 0.50% as per the regulation of the Bank of Portugal. ECB data suggest that the average mortgage borrower pays an interest rate of 1.2% per year on August 2017 compared to 1.7% -2.0% paid by new mortgage borrowers (new mortgage loans).
You have a number of options when buying real estate internationally - you can apply for an international mortgage from an offshore bank, you can approach a lender in the country in which you want to buy, you can re-mortgage existing property if you have accrued equity on your home and use the released capital to buy overseas, or you could even approach your local bank and see if they offer mortgages to buy abroad.
In addition, the company is extremely experienced in arranging loans on Touristic property. Mortgages for acquisition purposes are offered by all the major Portuguese lenders to private individuals purchasing a property with a habitation license. To make things worse, the US taxpayers' exposure to the market is growing, not reducing; last year they bought or guaranteed three-quarters of all U.S. home loans.
The rule of thumb is, the more established the market, then the easier it is, so in emerging markets like Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, The Caribbean and Israel, you can get a mortgage - but the rates will be considerably higher (see below), the amount they will lend is less and they also have stricter borrowing terms.
Tax Angels is an independent and experienced financial consultancy company that provides free mortgage services to non-residents in Portugal. Openwork Limited offers insurance and investment advice on products from a limited number of product providers and advice on mortgages representative of the whole of the market.
Quinta Finance mortgage advisors are UK qualified and through their well established relationships with all the major Portuguese lenders Algarve Property Trends they are able to assist you in sourcing the best available mortgage offer and help you navigate your way through the mortgage process.
Like any mortgage application, it can be a very time-consuming and laborious process, so it's crucial that you provide all the most up-to-date documents at once to avoid delaying the process. This is a tricky type of mortgage to commit to as with all the financial uncertainty at present the interest rates could fluctuate quite dramatically.
Our mortgage calculator for Portugal will allow you estimate the rates that each bank offers. That said, we work with an expert in Portuguese mortgages and so offer a very good chance if the criteria are met. Arranging your Spanish or Portuguese mortgage in good time allows you to find the mortgage in Spain or Portugal that best suits your requirements and avoid overpaying.
