Last Updated: 11th April, 2024
A Quick Overview
| Details | Description |
|---|---|
| Customer Goal | To purchase an investment property as an Aussie expat |
| Problem | |
| Loan Amount | $814,400 |
| Security | $1,018,000 |
| LVR and Term | |
| Income | $263,370 (US$185,764) |
| Solution |
A Perfect Investment Strategy
Aaron, an Australian expat living in the United States in recent years, was looking to purchase an investment property back home. Working for a reputable organisation, he saved enough to make investments. Aaron invested in company shares and built himself a profit-generating portfolio. He then decided to purchase an investment property in Queensland where he would use the $275,000 (US$200,000) he made in shares as the mortgage deposit. Though he had not found himself a property yet, he knew he wanted to purchase a house worth around a million dollars and rent the house throughout the loan term. This way, the rent that the house generated would help him repay his mortgage and earn him some side income, too.The Pandemic Becomes A Hurdle
As Aaron was living in the United States, taking leave from work for months to find himself an investment property wasn’t financially reasonable. Adding to that was the Australian Government’s border restrictions during COVID 19, making it impossible for him to visit Queensland. Even if Aaron couldn’t make it to Australia, the lenders would still require him to fly to San Francisco to get his ID witnessed by the Australian consulate.This is because, unlike other states, Queensland does not allow another person to complete your Verification of Identity (VOI). And flying to San Francisco wasn’t an option. On top of that, Aaron’s wife is a healthcare professional, so any potential exposure to coronavirus was a major concern. COVID cases were increasing, so travelling across the state would have endangered his wife and hundreds of her patients. Aaron could not risk travelling.Broker Saves The Day
Aaron knew there must have been a better way. He then searched for mortgage brokers online, and that’s when he found Home Loan Experts. He enquired with our customer support, who matched him with one of our brokers, Jonathan Preston. Jonathan specialises in expat home loans, so when Aaron explained his case, our broker knew exactly what to do to secure the home loan. Below are just some of the highlights of what Jonathan did for Aaron.- He got his client an $814,400 Principle & Interest (P&I) variable rate home loan with an interest rate of 2.85%, monthly repayments, and a loan term of 30 years. The package allowed Aaron to make free additional repayments as well.
- Since Jonathan set the Loan- to-Value Ratio (LVR) at 80%, Aaron had to pay only $203,600 from his savings. He liquidated his shares from a company he invested in to fund this deposit.
- The loan application was completed without the client having to fly down to Australia. This saved a considerable amount of time and thousands of dollars.
- As part of the mortgage broking process, Jonathan found the best three lenders for the client to choose from.
- He worked out how much the lender would let the client borrow using the mortgage serviceability calculator of the client’s lender of choice, based on the loan amount, income and expenditure.
- He secured the client a pre-approval, allowing him to search for a property with the confidence that he had his finances in place.
- He made last-minute changes to the loan amount right before receiving the formal approval. The reason for the change was that the client found a property that was priced over the amount stated in his initial documentation for his pre-approval. Had the broker not liaised with the lender’s business development manager (BDM), the client would have had to reapply for the home loan.
- He arranged a virtual VOI (Verification of Identity) with the Australian consulate in San Francisco. Our broker took a commonsense approach, convincing the bank to provide an exception in Aaron’s case, considering his wife’s job.
- He convinced the bank to accept a scanned copy of the client-signed loan offer document until the original copy was posted to Australia. By doing this, the client was able to meet the settlement deadline and not lose the property or the deposit he paid for it.
