23/10/2008 00:00
TW
0

Dear Sir, MARK Masters letter shows a delightful naivety, complaining that a seasonal (six months) worker would not be eligible for a mortgage to buy here.
Banks lend money to those they calculate can meet the payments, and their rule of thumb calculations are simply an 80 percent loan amount on the valuation of the property, together with lending four times one's annual income (or joint incomes) as the controlling factor. Where it is interesting for first time buyers, or anyone needing a mortgage, is that in a time of crisis, as now, some vendors are more motivated to sell than others, resulting in substantial price reductions.

An example would be a property that will receive a bank valuation of 150'000 euros, actually for rate at 112'000 euros, the 80 percent on the bank value will result in 100 percent of the purchase price.

These are the properties that will prove most interesting to first time buyers, but one has to have full term employment, and if a foreign national, some time here to give a background/roots; banks are not interested as a rule in repossessing houses, they just want their money! Banks that do not act responsibly, combined with borrowers who allow themselves to get totally out of their depth is a recipe for disaster, which we are all experiencing now!

Yours sincerely, Graham Phillips, Palma