Expat mortgage

HSBC. Go to international department at 1 Queen's Road Central.

Be sure and negotiate.


I meet with my banker earlier this year, and she agreed that banks could be forced to cut their spreads soon. If they don't, she encouraged me by saying that her bank can be more "flexible" with good clients like us, who have kept plenty of money in the bank.


You can get a better deal, if the bank is convinced the risk of loss is low. So if you need to borrow only 50% or 60%, be sure and ask for a lower rate.

Lloyds Bank used to do overseas mortgages but they probably don't exist here anymore. Regarding HSBC, did you go to the international department? You have to go up in the lift.

Maybe here. I used to have a NZ mortgage with them. http://www.lloydstsb-asia.com/product/mortgage.asp

I have a premier acct, and a meeting schedule with my new Relation Manager next week, so I will let you know how I get on. I will ask him to try to use some "creativity" on some opportunities that I am looking at. He has already warned me: "HSBC is known to be a conservative bank."

I am calling her out !

Does anyone else think this comment is complete nonsense?:

=====

Rising Lending Rates

Last year’s decline in prices and transactions coincided with the rise in borrowing costs. Hong Kong banks, led by HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBC) and BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. (2388), increased mortgage rates at least six times since April as liquidity dried up.

Despite the Jan. 25 announcement by U.S. Federal Reserve officials that benchmark interest rates would probably remain below 1 percent through 2014, average mortgage rates in Hong Kong are forecast to rise.

They could reach as high as 4 percent by the end of 2012 from the current 2.38 percent, said Sharmaine Lau, chief economist at mReferral Mortgage Brokerage Services. Borrowing costs were 0.9 percent in early 2011, almost the lowest in 20 years, the company’s data shows.

/source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-31/hong-kong-homes-face-25-drop-as-loans-fall-in-year-of-dragon-mortgages.html

====


Sharmaine, I really do not think Mortgage Interest rates will be at 4% at the end of 2012, if US interest rates stay below 1%. I think you are very guilty of "talking your own book", and trying to scare people into doing business with your company now.


You need to take into consideration that:


+ Ultra-low US dollar interest rates are coming with:

+ Ultra-low Loan-to-Value lending percentages, and

+ High, maybe ultra-high spreads for mortgage lenders


The result is a huge falloff in business for Mortgage Lenders. At some point these lenders are going to find themselves way below budget, and they are going to start head-to-head competition with each other, and that will bring spreads down, and mortgage rates down too.


Let's look back at this comment within a few months and see who is right.

John, where did you get that "developers don't need to borrow" line? They all borrow! Try to look at their financial statements...

You believe wrong John; they all borrow. All these property companies declare their FS every year, just google any one of the them and take a look.