Obtaining a Mortgage as a Foreigner

[WadsyUK]

Hyvää huomenta

So I am 95% sure I am moving to Finland in March 2019. This will be my second time living and working in Finland and I hope for this to be a permanent move this time round.

So right now I am looking at trying to sort accommodation etc. most likely starting the first 2 months in an airbnb. None of this is actually a concern, as that's the easy bit really. I will be a sole trader and I have all the information I need on that as I have a Finnish accountant dealing with that process for me.

So I am feeling confident and prepared for the move. What I would really like to know is peoples experience buying a property in Finland. I have lived in 6 countries across Europe now with work and rented every-time. I have spent the last 3 years saving and have approx €25,000 in savings. As I would like to make Finland my home I have been looking into buying a property, but to do this i need a mortgage.

From my research I can see banks typically give a maximum of 75% loan against the property value, but I have been reading in some cases that as a first time buyer you can get 95%. Or that there is something called a loan guarantee which could allow you to borrow more than the 75%. I will have a Finnish social security number and I will be paying Finnish taxes and social security (no tax equalisation to the UK).

Would I qualify for a mortgage in Finland?
Also would I be seen as a first time buyer? I am 34 so fall into the right age bracket which would mean I could borrow more and would avoid the 2% transfer tax. (I am aware that borrowing more means higher monthly repayments and I need to make sure I can afford to pay it back, but I earn good money and will also be paying more in social security payments to give me the employment insurance and sickness cover).

Any advice is very much welcomed.

Kiitos

Tim

[tavastia]

You can use the property as 75% guarantee for your loan, the bank can apply for state guarantee (not sure how much is that now) or you can also purchase a guarantee in a form of an insurance for the bank.

For getting the loan will be no problem as a foreigner but you will not qualify most probably only after over a year you have lived in Finland. Depends on the banks. Also your job matters quite a lot as will reduce or increase the risks for the banks based on what field you are working on.

Anyway, good luck with the move.

[inkku]

check these sites
http://www.ymparisto.fi/en-US/Housing/O ... rantee_fee

https://www.infopankki.fi/en/living-in- ... ed-housing

[WadsyUK]

Thanks for the replies.

I have seen both those websites and had a good read, what I couldn't find is the criteria for a state guarantee. I have also seen that Nordea do their own guarantee and from what I can tell, either way you pay a 2.5% fee.

So you can borrow 75% maximum loan followed by a maximum of 20% on the guarantee with the remaining 5% with your own deposit. I am waiting for a call back form Nordea to try and get a better understanding.

Does anyone know the criteria for the state guarantee and is it a one off fee that you pay or are there monthly repayments on it also?

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Does anyone know the criteria for the state guarantee and is it a one off fee that you pay or are there monthly repayments on it also?

Maximum 20% (25% for ASP) of the loan amount, 50000€. One has to have a Finnish identity number and has to reside in Finland, also the property must be located in Finland. One-time fee 2,5% of the guaranteed amount, to be paid at the time of the first withdrawal of the loan. All this information using Google for a couple of minutes.

[betelgeuse]

I will have a Finnish social security number and I will be paying Finnish taxes and social security (no tax equalisation to the UK).

You won't have a Finnish social security number because such a thing does not exist. There are personal identity codes and they imply nothing about access to social security.