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Advice please....Buying a flat

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  1. #11

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    while a traditional (at least in NA) pre-approved mortgage might not exist here, banks are happy to sit down and offer you guidance based on your income and expenses and terms as to how much they will give you...this should be your first step before shopping...

    cookie09 and dipper like this.

  2. #12

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    I would never buy property without viewing it first - one reason I wouldn't buy off the plan either. Similarly, if you have not talked to your bank at all yet, how do you know their mortgage criteria and if you qualify or not? Best get that sorted first so you know what you can afford.

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  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Many moons ago I did a brief stint as an estate agent in England, we would always advise vendors not to accept offers from purchasers without cash or mortgages in principle. Obtaining a mortgage in principle has always been my first step when seriously house hunting.
    It does not work like this here.

    Banks can do pre-approval mortgage but it's rare and most locals do not bother with this.

    The process is usually:
    1. talk to a few banks to know their criteria
    2. hunt for flat
    3. select a flat
    4. confirm valuation of the flat (before buying) with the bank to ensure it's on par with the price the seller is offering
    5. Pay 3 or 5% upfront (non refundable)
    6. Apply for your mortgage (same day or immediately after) and get a lawyer (banks will give you reference of l-ayers they work with)
    7. 2 weeks after 1st deposit pay 7 or 5% remaining of deposit (non refundable)
    8. About 2/3 weeks after you have applied for your mortgage, your mortgage is hopefully approved
    9. Pay stamp duty (i forgot at which point you have to pay this one)
    10. whenever you have agreed with the seller..pay the remaining balance (you/the bank) + your lawyer... get the key on the day the money clears and move in when you want.

  4. #14

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    I'm in the beginning of this process, we seen a village house that is brand new, got the price from the developer, we are now asking the bank for the value of the house and also if we meet the requirements for a mortgage, once we have that confirmed then we will go ahead and sign agreements with the agent.


  5. #15

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    buying a secondary market house without seeing it?

    sounds not too bright. Most likely isn't too bright.


  6. #16

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    would folks generally think that now is a good time to buy? is the market on its way down, up? i have not been following it at all, so please excuse my ignorance if at all possible (which I know is hard on this forum, in which case have at it, and in another case, if i have gone so far as hijacked this ops thread, ill take heat for that too)...


  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dankleness:
    would folks generally think that now is a good time to buy? is the market on its way down, up? i have not been following it at all, so please excuse my ignorance if at all possible (which I know is hard on this forum, in which case have at it, and in another case, if i have gone so far as hijacked this ops thread, ill take heat for that too)...
    1. property prices are more or less on par with prices from 1997 (good/bad...for you to make your mind)
    2. Interests rates are low
    3. affordability (ie how much % of the household income) is still relatively low (good article from JVK in the SCMP on monday if I recall) -> by this I mean that the ppl spend much less nowadays in their house than they used to in the late 90ies, which implies that ppl are still able to take on more debts)
    4. new gvt in place soon (good/bad...for you to make your mind)
    5. where do you want to buy? (whiel being a small city there are various segments in the market: luzury...and geography)
    6. why do you want to buy?
    7. what would you do with your money if not in a house?

    Those are a few of the questions I would ask myself (and I asked myself before) when buying.
    Last edited by Mat; 28-03-2012 at 11:50 AM.
    Dankleness and SiuMaiTaiTai like this.

  8. #18

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    1 - hmm, seems like that was one of the high points, so id say bad
    2 - yes, that is good
    3 - what do those acronyms stand for?
    4 - not sure there, but usually new govt will try to do something to help, though sometimes it ends up hurting, so i guess im back where i started, not sure
    5 - probably kowloon, somewhere near hong hum ish
    6 - plan to move there with the gf soon to be fiance then wife if things continue as they are
    7 - its hardly my money, at least the down payment, but i will be contributing to the mortgage payments, so to answer plainly, nothing, just let it sit in the bank

    still thinking it might make sense to try and convince my better half to rent for a year and see what happens...


  9. #19

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    1. yes but no one really knows, the problem of 97 is that prices where high and affordability rwas bad, very bad (ie ppl were hugely in debt), this is not the case this time.
    3. Jake Van der kemp from the South China Morning Post http://www.jakevanderkamp.com/

    Dankleness likes this.

  10. #20

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    To answer the OP's question, if the purchase price of the flat is under $6m, and you have at least 30% deposit saved up, then it should be easy for you to get a mortgage without much trouble. The bank wont even ask your salary or income. If you fall outside of either of these conditions, its still possible to get a mortgage. But you need to exercise more caution and jump through more hoops. When you borrow more than 70%, you have to get the HKMC (mortage corporation) to approve your mortgage as well as the bank. That also adds an extra week to the timing of the approval.