Do you have a APRC? I could only get 70% as a foreigner with an ARC, they said it was due to bank policies.
They give 70% to quite a few people, not just foreigners. 80% is actually hard for everyone.
With interest rates as low as 1.5%, I’d pay 5% downpayment / 30 years if I could
We all would. But banks here are conservative.
30% is good. 20% is lucky. 10% is impossible. 5% is goddamn tell me who your guanxi is I beg you!
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Are the interest rates variable here? I assume so.
Do they have a fixed rate period at the beginning? How long is it normally?
For example, in the uk, you might have a 25 year mortgage, the first two years fixed. Here?
I asked two homeowners this question and they were both like, we just pay what the bank says.
Fixed for life of mortgage.
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They are not always fixed.
No…but all the banks I’ve spoken with…do.
Mine is tied to the prime rate, with one index for the first two years and another for the other 23 years.
Having a floating rate isn’t quite as dangerous here as it is in the US, where I’m from.
Most Taiwanese banks here would be fine with locking in the 1.5% interest rate for 30 years. I hope for your sake the interest rate doesn’t go up.
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The ones I talked to you, which included farmers, chinatrust, esun, and land bank, they were not willing to do this. It’s been a couple years, so I can’t remember why or what they said. The central bank by law cannot increase the rate by more than a quarter point per quarter, so they would have to be a lot of bad luck for it to go up enough for me to get seriously pissed off and go find another bank.
Which bank would that be please? Which branch did you talk to?
Quite a few, Cathay, Taishin, Fubon. I can’t remember it all cause I’ve gone to almost 50 branches.
HSBC offered 30% down, no guarantor, 1.49% interest over 30 years. They said if your situation changes like you get citizenship 5 years down the road, they can re-negotiate the same loan for 20% down, ~1.3% interest over 30 years which is what the locals get.
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The HSBC branch next to my office offered 30% down, 1.3% interest, 30 years. If I get my APRC, the interest rate stays the same, and the down payment goes to 20%. I asked if I could get a lower interest rate with APRC and they said only the down payment requirement would be reduced.
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1.3% is quite low, I was told only locals can get it. Looks like I need to find another banker. Did you find the rate differs depending on building?
And where is ‘next to your office’?
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I went around and asked a bunch of HSBC branches yesterday. So far Shilin HSBC gave the best offer. ~1.3-1.4% for foreigners, 30 years, 30% down, APRC instead of citizenship requirement for reducing it to down to 20%, no guarantor needed if you have local job. It’s amazing how much difference there is between branches.
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Some changes to mortgage interest rates and loans that may cooldown home prices a little. I may wait until new year and see how it affects things:
Sources:
- first home (non-luxury) interest rate starts at 1.31% 利率, up to 80% mortgage
- second home is 1.60% 利率, up to 80% mortgage
- third home is 1.72% 利率, up to 55% mortgage
- fourth home and up is 1.72% 利率, up to 50% mortgage
- luxury homes is 1.72% 利率, up to 55% mortgage
Luxury home means:
Taipei - 7000萬元
New Taipei - 6,000萬元
Outside Taipei and New Taipei - 4,000萬元
