It’s an unfortunate reality; the process of securing a loan can be very slow, which poses a challenge when clients need to move quickly. I recently encountered this issue when I worked with a married couple who were living and working in Dubai. They wanted to secure a buy to let mortgage for a new build property in London, valued at £800,000.
There were several problems to overcome. The wife had recently moved jobs, which can pose a problem when lenders are assessing affordability as she could not prove this was a consistent income. The husband was an Egyptian passport holder, and unfortunately, some lenders will not lend on this basis. There was also time pressure on the purchase.
OUR SOLUTION
I was quickly able to solve the first problem by highlighting to the lender that the wife had no probationary period for her new position, so they could include her income when assessing the loan. I then needed to narrow down the options to find a lender who would work with an Egyptian national.
Unfortunately, the lender I found is generally slow to progress with cases—but I knew they were one of the only lenders who could cater for this situation. Most importantly, this bank is happy to lend to Egyptian nationals providing they are paid in dollars by a multinational company. The final product was a 2-year fixed rate of 3.89%, on a 20-year term.
Although I knew this lender generally moves slowly and had warned the client of this, I did not want them to miss out on their purchasing opportunity as a result. I, therefore, worked extremely hard to expedite the process, chasing contacts in the UK and Dubai every day for several months.
As a result of my diligence, I was able to secure the loan just in time. My clients were delighted with this—and the solicitor I was in contact with for this case was so impressed he intends to refer clients to me in the future, which was great to hear.
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