I am considering buying a home in NTC so that I can have a place to live and work. The places that I am looking at need to have enough room for a Buxiban and a home. Most places that I have found have a price between 30 and 45 million NT. There is no way i could put down 20% as a down payment and even 10% would be a minor miracle. Is it uncommon to put down 5% in Taiwan? What would be drawbacks? Are there any additional costs to owning a home that I need to know?
Thanks!
10% is the lower legal limit in Taiwan currently. But not all banks will go that low and only in a few select areas (they will advertise “10% down payment in all of Taipei and NTC” but then it turns out they only offer that in a few historically stable districts). You will have to pay 20%, realistically speaking.
Additional costs: Real estate agent and loads of taxes on the transaction itself and later per year (not very high % wise). Make sure to transfer your household registration to the new place in time to avoid higher rates.
For anyone who didn’t read the related thread
Yup, I’m looking for a new place but I can’t find a Buxiban for sale near where my kids live. My wife has been on me about buying a house for her as well. I figure, if I can find a place large enough, I could kill two birds with one stone.
It isn’t looking too bright though. It seems that foreigners have a tough time getting a mortgage and getting a mortgage with 10% down would be all but impossible. In addition to that, I haven’t had much in the way of taxed income for over 2 years. The banks want to see proof of income from the tax records…
My wife is telling me to give up the dream.
Is your wife taiwanese?
If so, you can try to get the mortgage under her name.
You are trying to collect the eggs in the basket before there are any there. Hell, in your case the chickens haven’t even laid the eggs yet.
Slow down. Get a solid income going, save as much as you can and then buy when you can put 20% or more down.
You sound desperate. Never do anything out of desperation. You could end up chaining yourself to massive debt (and legal troubles based on your other posts).
If you don’t have the money, then you don’t have the money.
It does seem that I am desperate. The clock is ticking before the (DOE/MOE?) comes knocking on my door telling me to close down my school. If I don’t find another place to move my kids soon we are all going to be out of luck.
I do have a successful business and I do make decent money. The problem is that my taxable earnings haven’t reflected as much. We have a strong cash flow but our capital isn’t anywhere near the 4-8 million NT we would need as a down payment.
That said, my wife and I both come from families that are financially well-off. If we can make a compelling argument for lending us the down payment then, just then, I might have a solution to this little quagmire.
I really wish your “school” won’t be listed here.
I think @SuiGeneris was just pointing out that you shouldn’t be rushing to buy property, not that you can’t find a place to rent for your business. I hope you are able to continue your business, but I would agree with not buying a place to do so. Having tons of unreported income is not something you want when you are trying to get a mortgage.
If the house is going to be in her name, get the mortgage in hers as well. She’ll also get a preferential rate as a first time homeowner.
About the deposit… when we bought over 10 years ago (does that make me sound old?), we also didn’t have enough for the deposit they wanted. So we got another loan from the same bank (I think it was called “xin dai”) at a slightly higher rate to cover the balance of the deposit. Even though it was two loans, we still just had one monthly payment and the deposit loan was paid off in the first few years.
NTC is a big area!
Another cost: If anything breaks in the house, it’s on you. Can’t call the landlord and tell them to fix a broken water heater or AC. Keep that in mind… If say there’s a leak or shoddy construction, well it’s on you too.
Just as an addendum, if somebody finds this thread later:
As of last year (2018), the names on the mortgage and the title have to match. Buying a home for your xiao san and having the mortgage in your name does not work anymore.
This used to be a very common setup but my bank told me recently that they are not allowed to do that anymore. Depending on your relationship with the bank, YMMV though.
Here’s some advice— Taiwan has one of the highest home cost-to-rental rate ratios in the world. Meaning home values are waaay overpriced compared to demand and you can’t make squat off rental rates if you own a place, rentals are very cheap compared to paying a mortgage. So leverage that to your advantage. Mortgage payments are VERY high compared to rental rates. Second only to Monaco! So what I’m getting at is this: rent the home you’re looking for, enter a multi-year lease with options to extend the lease at years 3/5/7/10. If your biz has gone well, you may also have enough to potentially buy a place for your expanding bushiban.