MrsWuh Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 We are moving to Tassie at the beginning of September. If we manage to sell our house in the UK, we'll have around £400,000 in equity. We don't really want to transfer all that over to Aussie dollars while the exchange rate is so bad. On the other hand, we don't much fancy renting either. So we were wondering whether it would be preferable to get a mortgage in Tasmania, using just some of the equity as a deposit, and then paying it off once the exchange rate has picked up and we can transfer the rest of the money over. My husband is a teacher and he has a permanent job lined up in a Hobart school as a Head of Department. So we will have a regular income pretty much straight away. His UK contract doesn't end until 31st August, so his employment record will scarcely have any gap at all between jobs. I know our credit score won't count over there, but we thought we'd get copies anyway to reassure any lenders. We are going to open an Australian bank account and start saving into it every month before we go. And, of course, we'll have a huge wodge of cash sitting around in a foreign bank account. Will it be possible to get a mortgage agreed in Australia before we go out there or soon after, or will it take months before the banks will trust us with their money? (Please don't tell me that it's best to rent to begin with - I know, I know!) Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 The bank will want to see at least 3 months of pay slips before they will consider. More if there is a probationary period. I know you say you don't want to rent, but, first you are going to have to anyway and second, you are moving to the other side of the planet, to a very different culture - it is as different to any of the other 12 countries I have lived and about half of those that make the move return. Also, it takes a while to learn what areas are to your preference and which are not. For example, we nearly moved to an area of Perth 6 months after arriving. We really liked it and had visited the area and even looked at houses. But, we later found the area is infamous for rowdy weekend parties - something we would hate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsWuh Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 Wherever we rent to start is where we are likely to end up because, having pulled three children out of school in the UK, we really wouldn't want to get them settled in Australia and then be forced to pull them out again. We will just have to make sure we've done our research before we get over there. (At the moment we are keen on Blackman's Bay and Kingston Beach, so if anyone knows any deep dark secrets about those areas please pass them on!) Oh well - thank you for answering my question. Looks like renting is unavoidable... or maybe we should just invest in a camper van for three months?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brokerbythebeach Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi MrsWuh, are you moving over as Perm Residents or on a Temp visa? This will be the first question a lender asks? If its as PR there are lenders that will lend whilst in a probation period (if showing continuation of industry) eg a teacher before and a teacher now. I am unsure if this still applies to new migrants but a quick call to a lender would confirm this. If you are planning on leaving $$ in the UK I would suggest buying with a 20% deposit this eliminates the need for LMI (Lender Mortgage Insurance). It also makes you more appealing as a client. I hope this helps and more than happy to answer any more questions, I'm a mortgage broker and have lived here for 15 years. BTW Tassie is stunning, it always reminds of the english countryside green with rolling hills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosiew Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Just be aware when you are costing this strategy that Australian mortgage rates are considerably higher than UK rates so don't assume the same low costs when doing the maths. You are also gambling on the pound improving.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 (At the moment we are keen on Blackman's Bay and Kingston Beach, so if anyone knows any deep dark secrets about those areas please pass them on!) No, I don't know any deep dark secrets about those areas. In fact, if I were moving with a family, they would be my first choice. :wubclub: The only negative I can think of is peak hour traffic into Hobart if any of you need to travel there at that time (although it may be considerably less "peak" than where you live now). But the topographical restrictions of Hobart (squeezed between the harbour and mountains) mean that there'll be some congestion from whichever direction you travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 We got a mortgage after being here for just six weeks. We were borrowing for a block of land and only wanted to borrow about a third of the value but then we had to borrow for the cost of the house build. My advice would be to use a mortgage broker as they will know which lenders are likely to lend for your circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsWuh Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 Thank you all for your replies they're really helpful. We know we're gambling on the value of the pound going up but it's being hammered now by the uncertainty over Brexit. Once that's sorted and the dust has settled, we're pretty confident the pound will improve. We know about the interest rates being higher in Australia as well - we were doing calcuations based on a 5% interest rate? But our annual income will be up by the equivalent of £12,000 a year and I'm hoping to go back to work as well, so we should be OK there. BrokerByTheBeach, we do have permanent residents' visas. My husband has been a teacher for 21 years, so the continuation of industry is there. If we sell our UK house, a 20% deposit will be no problem. I must admit I haven't scanned the small print of my husband's job offer, but he hasn't mentioned having a probationary period. Are there any lenders you would recommend that might be willing to take us on? NicF, how did you get a mortgage after six weeks? That's fantastic! I love the idea of building our own house, but the reality would scare me witless! Skani, thank you for reassuring me over Kingston Beach and Blackman's Bay. At the moment we live outside London near Stansted Airport, and the congestion is a nightmare. It takes my husband an hour or more to travel 18 miles into work. We regularly get stuck in traffic jams going to the supermarket 2 miles away. Getting away from it is the major reason why we picked living in Tasmania over anywhere else - surely the congestion in Hobart cannot compare to where we are now?! (I'm going to need to get used to thinking in kilometres instead of miles, aren't I? Oh heck...!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 When we arrived and went to the migrant banking advisor to complete the setup of our bank account they were very insistent that we could have a mortgage immediately and said they could pre-authorise us for about 5 times my salary which seemed excessive to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsWuh Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 When we arrived and went to the migrant banking advisor to complete the setup of our bank account they were very insistent that we could have a mortgage immediately and said they could pre-authorise us for about 5 times my salary which seemed excessive to me. Wow - which bank was that? Was it a long time ago? And do you think that was quite usual, or are you a banker's extra-special, super-loaded dream client that they were desperate to nab?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Wow - which bank was that? Was it a long time ago? And do you think that was quite usual, or are you a banker's extra-special, super-loaded dream client that they were desperate to nab?! It was with NAB, I'm not clued up with financial markets etc but I do get the feeling that Australia feels a bit like the U.K and USA before the housing market collapse by lending money to anyone and everyone. We immediately got large credit card limits etc and it seemed to be without any real checks. This was in 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
can1983 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Wherever we rent to start is where we are likely to end up because, having pulled three children out of school in the UK, we really wouldn't want to get them settled in Australia and then be forced to pull them out again. We will just have to make sure we've done our research before we get over there. (At the moment we are keen on Blackman's Bay and Kingston Beach, so if anyone knows any deep dark secrets about those areas please pass them on!) Oh well - thank you for answering my question. Looks like renting is unavoidable... or maybe we should just invest in a camper van for three months?! the problem with Kingston beach is that everyone wants to buy there and there are only 50 houses there. At present nothing is for sale so the reality is that you may have to wait for something to come on the market i.e. Rent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 NicF, how did you get a mortgage after six weeks? That's fantastic! I love the idea of building our own house, but the reality would scare me witless! We used a mortgage broker - Andrew from Vista who posts on here (well it was Stacey we dealt with but from the same place). My OH was working in the same kind of job in the same kind of industry as he had been for years. There is no way we could have got a mortgage on our own as we didn't have a clue how to go about it. To be honest we weren't really looking to buy land so soon but my OH found a great block in a lovely location not far from where we were renting and it just seemed the right time. It did mean bringing our pounds over at a time when he exchange rate was about 1.4 dollars to the pound, but it was the right time so we went for it. We could have waited for the exchange rate to improve but we would have lost the opportunity to build where we wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heugas Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 We bought our house in December with Citi, not many banks were prepared to lend to us because we are on a temporary visa. Just be aware that if you are a temporary resident you need FIRB approval to buy a house for which you have to pay $5000. All the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Getting away from it is the major reason why we picked living in Tasmania over anywhere else - surely the congestion in Hobart cannot compare to where we are now?! I suppose it's all relative to what one is used to. Congestion in Hobart is when you are forced to drive at less than the maximum speed limit due to the volume of traffic. :wink: Outside of peak hours there's generally no problem: it takes me 11 minutes to drive from the Southern Outlet/Davey St. intersection in Hobart to Kingston shopping centre ( I know because I have timed it. :laugh:) A trip on some hilly and winding suburban roads to my nearest major supermarket in Sandy Bay - about 5 km/3 miles - takes me about 10 minutes max. I've never once encountered a traffic jam getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 the problem with Kingston beach is that everyone wants to buy there and there are only 50 houses there. I assumed the OP meant Kingston in general. If anyone is considering Kingston Beach specifically, be aware that the low lying area near Browns River does occasionally flood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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