Pro/Cons of One-Spouse Mortgage

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    31

    Pro/Cons of One-Spouse Mortgage

    What is the benefit of listing only one spouse on a mortgage in Hong Kong?

    This is our first property purchase here and we would like to buy another property (investment) in Hong Kong within 5 years.

    Does putting one person on our first mortgage benefit us if the second mortgage is listed under a HK business name?

    How does it influence Tax?

    We are Americans working for a Hong Kong registered company.

    Thanks for the advice-

    Cloud9


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    4,574

    If you have a business - have all the "dangerous" creditors (e.g. credit cards, larger borrowings) in the name of the person who doesn't have the mortgage/deeds .. then, if the worst happens, the bank won't be able to touch your house


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    23,205

    One other possible tax benefit if you plan to be in HK a long time is that mortgage interest tax relief can only be taken for 10 years. It may be (I'm not sure) that by keeping the mortgage in one name (and filing taxes separately) you may in effect be able to get 20 years of relief. But there may be some negative consequences of filing separately, depending on how much each of you has in salary.