Expats should read this

Re-mortgaging a property is something that many still talk about in hushed tones, associating it with being hard up, struggling to make ends meet.

However, while this is sometimes the case, re-mortgaging is often a smart move for expat borrowers to save on monthly repayments. In fact The Financial Conduct Authority’s Mortgage Market Study found that roughly 29,000 expats are currently overspending on their mortgages and could save £1,000 a year by switching. So why are we still talking about re-mortgaging in embarrassed whispered voices?

Research revealed that re-mortgaging is a widely misunderstood term. In the survey, three in five people admitted to not being sure of what re-mortgaging actually meant.

Almost half of the expats surveyed associated re-mortgaging with negative connotations. While one in five admitted that they’d be embarrassed to admit they’d re-mortgaged their home.

This was linked to almost a quarter of those surveyed believing you would only re-mortgage to borrow extra funds. A further 8% thought re-mortgaging a property meant you were in a ‘desperate’ situation.

To clear things up, re-mortgaging happens when mortgage holders come to the end of a fixed term. If they wish to re-mortgage, they can then chose a product transfer – when you stay with the same lender but transfer to a new fixed-rate deal or you move to a fixed-rate deal with a new lender.

Help with your expat mortgage?

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