Bank Mortgage in TCI

There are usually 2 kinds of clients who come to see us; those who have applied for a bank mortgage, and those who have not. For those who have been to the bank, they know why they are now looking for a private loan. For those who have not gone to the bank, they are still trying to figure out why they are talking to us first. Let’s take a look at why bank mortgages are not as common in TCI.

Most of the clients we deal with are quite affluent, qualifying for a bank mortgage or loan at home is not usually an issue. So it can come as a bit of a surprise when they find out it is not that easy in TCI, especially for the Canadian borrowers who often already have relationships with these banks. Not only are the rules different regarding qualifying for a mortgage, but the often they don’t seem consistent from one deal to the next.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples. If you have a line of credit at home with no money on it, chances are your bank will not count that against you when applying for new credit. In Turks and Caicos however, they assume the credit line is maxed, and use the entire amount against you (usually at 3% repayment amount). Another example would be buying a rental property at home will allow you to use rental income to help cover the payments. The local banks will not usually include this unless the property is already being used as a rental.

Our private loans don’t consider your debts at home nor do we usually need to verify your rental income when purchasing a property.

The Process

When you apply for a bank mortgage at home, it is not uncommon to get a same day approval. There are systems in place which streamline the process, making it quick and easy. Those same systems do not exist here, with loans having to be sent out of the country to be approved. Applying and getting qualified can often take months, which of course is not likely to fit into your financing timeline in the purchase agreement.

When you apply for a private loan, we can usually have a commitment in your hand in a few days, and be able to fund in 3-4 weeks. Private lenders have supplanted banks as the primary lenders for purchasing new real estate, at least for non-residents. The prices are higher, but the easy approval and short timeline fits into all the parties expectations for a typical real estate transaction.

How Likely is Qualification if I Want to Go Through the Process?

As mentioned above, qualification at the bank is hard; much harder than it should be. This can be for a number of reasons. The policies that the banks often have in place. The appetite for business the banks have at any given time. The inconsistency of applying the correct policies at the branch level. We see a lot of purchases fall apart after going to the bank, this is a fact.

Our loans on the other hand are very straight forward, with easy to understand policies and pricing. We will never beat the banks on price, but if they don’t fund the loan for you, what differences does the rate make?

Talk to us today about how we can finance a property for you in Turks and Caicos today!