Hi, can anyone recommend a bank that will give a decent mortgage to foreigners? Does anyone know the going rate for foreigners now? I’ve heard that we pay high rates than the locals. Just been to Mega Bank and got a blanked looked employee saying he’ll “get back to me with some numbers”. Didn’t seem to have a clue (which I half expected). Here is a little background info about myself:
Been here 20 years
NOT married to a Taiwanese
Salary is 100k+
Had a mortgage before with my ex-wife who was Taiwanese and mortgage was actually all in my name
For such a large sum you will have to give securities, e.g. paid off property you already own.
I doubt you can convince them to do it without Taiwanese cosigners.
Is that your personal opinion or fact? I’m pretty sure that’s not right at all. They did ask for a security (if needed) which is fine. Not expecting to have any problem actually getting a mortgage, just curious on the rates.
Hi Graham, did you try the same bank that your employer uses ? It does work here sometimes , maybe get J or R to arrange a meeting for you with the Manager . Hope things are going well for you .
It really depends on the bank and who you are dealing with.
In my experience having a Taiwanese cosigner gets you better rates. Then they can get their money from the Taiwanese person should the ‘foreigner’ disappear.
Basically the higher the risk the more they charge.
I was offered a mortgage @75% (i.e. 25% down payment) , the wife was offered 80%. So a 5% difference. That was the Land bank.
If you are planning to put a down payment of 40~50% I don’t think you will have any problem with most banks. I don’t think the rates will differ, but they try and get away with whatever they can get away with, that’s just banks, need to shop around and know the going rate (and then keep updated to see if they drop later on because they sure as hell wont tell you, if you are on a fixed rate one that is)
Thanks Mick. Just an update my end, Mega Bank just called saying they don’t offer mortgages to foreigners. And to think I’ve been with them for nearly 20 years as well!
I have also been with them 20 years and they gave me the same tale. I went to Fubon and they wouldn´t give me a credit card but mortgage OK as long as I could produce a cosigner/guarantor.
@shiadoa suggestion is the way to go-- see if your boss could help you out.
My mortgage @1.82% is through Bank of Taiwan…but I was able to get a favorable rate because the company i work for does a lot of business there and we know them well. Also your rate does depend on how close you are to an MRT station. Being closer obviously would hold it’s value ‘better’ than being far away.
But in Taiwan a lot of it is who you know and who you talk with. Same bank company might have varying ways of dealing with foreigners in their branch offices. Although time consuming, you might check out different branches and see if you find a flexible manager.
But if you had a mortgage before that was in your name, why not just go back to that same bank? I would think if you brought paperwork reminding of them of that they would be more likely to give you a nice rate.
Many real estate companies here will fight the banks on your behalf and even find you great mortgage rates. They live off of those sales commissions!!! Their livelihood depends upon it. Not sure if you are going through an agent or not, but it is definitely worth asking about and looking into.
Yes, I totally agree. I just got a mortgage last year. I was approved at a higher rate so we put it in my wife’s name. We found the house first then the sales company spoke to the bank for us. The sales company assured us that if the first bank didn’t approve our mortgage loan, they would persuade other banks until they found one. If the bank denied us, they would lose the commission. I would have gotten the same mortgage in my name just at a higher interest rate
Edit: I was approved at the Taiwan Cooperative Bank
Got mine through HSBC (Taiwan) at 1.61% with 35% down and it is in my name (foreigner) because my income is much higher than my wife’s, however my wife is Taiwanese. Not sure if that helped us at all.
