When you apply for a mortgage in the Caribbean, it can be a little different to the process you experience at home. First off, chances are you will be applying as a non-resident which has it’s own challenges. These loans require more down payment (even in your own country), tougher qualification and in many cases simply quirky qualifications that may be a bit foreign to you.
The main take away is to not get frustrated with the process, it can take a bit more time, and require a bit more paperwork. Remember you are applying as a non-resident, and although the 3 C’s of credit still apply, different policies can and do apply.
Proving Your Income
Chances are the lender is going to want to see your past 3 years of income tax filings. If you are self employed, they may want to see an update on how your business is doing as well. There are some private lenders we use in select locations that don’t ask for any income but it depends on the deal and location.
In some cases the lender will consider your debt servicing, while in others the lender just wants to see that you have the cash flow and wherewithal to make payments on a mortgage, it doesn’t have to qualify at specific ratios.
Equity Requirements
Regardless of the lender, 50% loan to value is generally our maximum. The real estate markets are usually not as stable in these smaller countries, so the lenders require a bit more equity in case the client walks from the property (not to mention, you are much less likely to walk with that much equity in the property).
If you want to put less equity in the property, we may be able to do a blanket mortgage over other real estate assets depending on location and the amount of equity in the property.
Will a Deposit be Required?
Deposits or working fees are required by some lenders. The main purpose of the working fee is to ensure the client is simply not using the lender to get a commitment letter to shop it around. It takes a lot of time and work to underwrite these files so it’s understandable they don’t want to do the work for nothing.
These fees are fully refundable if the lender is unable to offer you financing (or financing which is not in line with what you were quoted). If however they issue you a commitment letter and you change your mind, the deposit becomes non refundable.
Talk to us today about your financing needs. Every lender we work with is different in terms of their requirements, let us explain to you in detail what the process will look like and what will be required from you to qualify.
