Florida A basic guide to Florida mortgages

Eligibility & criteria
Florida boat Mortgages can be sourced in Dollars, Pounds, Euros or a variety of other currencies, and secured against the property in Florida. Florida mortgages are full status and therefore proof of income and outgoings will be required to submit an application to a lender.

The maximum loan to value available is 75% of the purchase price.

Lenders in Florida assess eligibility on the applicant's capacity to repay the mortgage. As a guideline, your existing monthly outgoings as well as the monthly repayment on your new mortgage in Florida should not exceed 50% of your gross monthly income. A percentage of any rental and investment income you receive can be considered. Mortgage, rent, personal loans and maintenance commitments are all considered as outgoings. To find out how much you can borrow, complete our quotation request form.

Types of mortgage
Mortgages can be obtained for the purchase of new or existing properties.

Construction loans are available. Once the mortgage has been approved, funds will be released by the lender directly to your builders following submission of invoices. In the case of construction loans, more detailed information on the project will be required, so please speak to one of our Florida Consultants.

You can raise capital on your property in Florida.

Remortgaging is available.

Mortgage products
A variety of products are available. Both interest-only and repayment mortgages can be arranged on a variable or fixed-rate basis. Terms can be from 5 to 40 years. Some products do not have any early redemption penalties. For an idea of the current rates available see our Best Buy Tables, or for a personalised quotation complete our quotation request form.

Documentation required by the lender
Lenders are required to have full documentation proving that the borrower can afford the mortgage repayments, and you will therefore be required to submit a number of supporting documents. Please see below for a summary of what will be required. A detailed list will be compiled based on your situation and sent to you with your personalised quotation.

You will need:

Proof of identity & residence
Proof of income (except on self-certified products) & outgoings
Bank statements
Property details

Timeframe
An Agreement in Principle can be obtained from a lender. This takes approximately five working days.

We would recommend that you allow a minimum of eight to twelve weeks from application to the lender to completion.

Buildings insurance
Buildings insurance must be in place for completion. Please ask your Consultant if you would like more information.

Bank account
You may be required to open a bank account in Florida before completion, from which your mortgage repayments can be debited. Your Consultant can assist you with this at no additional cost if required.

Payment of your mortgage
Please be aware that missing a mortgage payment in Florida may have serious consequences and we therefore strongly advise you arrange for monthly debits from a UK or US account. A number of foreign exchange providers offer a renewable 12 month regular payment plan. The exchange rate is fixed at the start of the plan, and the agreed amount can be debited from your UK account and sent to your lender account each month. This service gives you peace of mind in the knowledge that your Florida mortgage repayments will be met automatically each month. Please ask one of our Consultants to recommend a provider if this is of interest.

Transferring funds to Florida
Whilst completing your property purchase in Florida it is also likely that you will need to transfer funds to Florida to pay a reservation fee, a deposit on the property, or to cover additional purchase costs.

Making payments in a foreign currency will mean you are exposed to movements in exchange rates. This is likely to affect the final cost of the property you are buying, as will the exchange rate you receive when you make the transfer.

Through our carefully selected foreign exchange provider we are able to not only save money on the exchange rate you receive but reduce your exposure to exchange rate movement.

For further information on how these services can benefit you please talk to your consultant who will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Completion
Mortgage funds will be released by the lender to the Florida Title company for completion of the purchase. You do not have to be present at completion.

Costs of setting up a mortgage in Florida

Bank’s arrangement fee – from 0% to 1.3% of the loan amount.

Mortgage Broker fees – $490 payable on completion

Please note there may be some mandatory costs payable on completion which your consultant will discuss with you.

We recommend that you obtain specialist legal & tax advice before purchasing in Florida.