‘There are three stages to pass through to secure a mortgage; pre-approval, final offer and exchange of contracts’ which means that the value of the property they’re buying shouldn’t be valued at more than that figure.
and if they are, then how much can they afford to pay as a monthly installment in addition to their fixed monthly expenditure. Is there a minimum salary requirement? That’s dependent on the lender, but in the majority of cases the minimum salary, individually or combined with your partner, should be Dhs20,000. Some banks may say a salary of Dhs10,000 is enough, but to me that does not make sense as it would be a challenge to live sufficiently well when making repayments. Are there age limits to securing a mortgage? Yes, 21 would be lowest age at which you Issue one
can secure a mortgage, but at the other end of the age scale some lenders will lend up to the age of 60, some will lend up to the age 65, and others up to the age of 70. It very much depends on the lender and how they assess the personal circumstances of the customer. Do I need a deposit? If so, how much is it, typically? The deposit needed varies between different products and lenders. Normally, most lenders will ask for a 20%-25% deposit. Some brokers will get you exclusive products where you only need to put down a 15% down payment, while for UAE nationals only there are 100% mortgages available, meaning that no deposit is required. This, however, is capped at a figure of Dhs2.2 million,
Are there key stages to the process of being approved for the mortgage? Yes. There are three stages to pass through; pre-approval, final offer and exchange of contracts. The first stage is pre-approval, the point of which is that the bank should find you eligible to be lent money. This money has to be lent in accordance to the bank’s set policy. Different banks have different policies, and this policy is defined by various things, including the bank’s appetite for risk and what type of customers they’re looking for. Different banks target different market segments. Of course, all banks want the top 10% wealthiest people in a county, naturally, but that aside some are targeting UK expatriates, some target Indian entrepreneurs, while others look for the mid-market – couples, or mid-to-senior management (the bulk of the population. Once a bank is content that you fit into its defined policy and that your financial situation isn’t a problem, you’re issued a pre-approval letter which means the loan is agreed. This process can take anything from 4 hours to 15 days, it really depends on your personal circumstances, which includes the job that you do. Once you’re confirmed as eligible for the loan, the bank then has to value and approve the property you’re buying. The property should have a title deed registered at the Land Department, and if it’s not, at least the building should be approved by the bank’s operations department – different banks have different policies and some will only lend on particular properties built by particular developers. Once the bank has approved the property you’re issued with a Final Offer Document, which is the comprehensive agreement between