Dubai Property Finder
Mortgage Assistance
Residency Visa by means of Property Purchase
Dubai has a mature property sector that is available to foreign buyers at every level. Buying a property in Dubai usually results in a Residency Visa of some tenure and the buyer can usually obtain a bond for the completed unit.
The Dirham is pegged to the dollar and has been since the early 1970s. This means that a bond in Dirhams is as valuable as a bond in dollars. The rate is 2-3.5% depending on the bank, their terms, and the buyer’s ability to repay the loan.
Any home buyer in South Africa knows the bond market well. Usually, South Africans are charged 1 or 2 % ahead of prime, and usually prime is more than 7%. Bond fees are usually pegged at 1% of the property’s value and the bond is usually for a period of 20 or 30 years. South Africans pay for their houses 3 times over in that 25-year period.
UAE banks provide a bond on the condition that the applicant has a permanent job in the country where they now reside. Typically the bigger the company is, the easier obtaining a bond will be. But we are able to help most applicants with our unique and attentive process. Personal credit ratings are important and will inform the Emirates banks about your creditworthiness.
Mortgages are usually provided for 5 years at a fixed rate, with variable rates for the ensuing 20-year period. Bonds can be shorter than 25 years. But at all events, the bondholder must be younger than 70 at the time of the last payment.
A mortgage can be provided to owner-occupiers or to investors, although the quantum is different. For an investment-type bond, the amount borrowed cannot exceed the anticipated earning of that property for a 7-year period, including the interest. The Monthly Mortgage payment amount should not exceed 50% of the purchaser’s monthly income after tax. In South Africa that ratio is 30%.
We provide a pre-approval system for maximum borrowings permissible for investors who wish to avail themselves to a local bond. We do this before we embark on the process of finding an asset.
There are 30 banking institutions in Dubai and some are more inclined to do business with Expats than others. We have working relationships with HSBS, Mashreq and Emirates NBD.
Fees payable to the banks are usually in the order of .25% of the value of the loan, and insurance is usually a requirement.
