Singapore Expats

Does anyone know if its possible to use the equity in Australian owned property to borrow money to purchase real-estate in Singapore?

You need the following:

Proof of income in AUD
Assets/Debts
S$100k in cash (for sg bank)

Apply with those documents and you should be good to go.

Source: UOB singapore from a couple of months back.

Thanks for the reply.

Let me elaborate, I live and work in Singapore so have a local income. I own property in Australia. I do not have the 20% mortgage deposit needed in Singapore in cash, so I am looking for a way to use my Aussie properties as guarantee for a local mortgage.

Anyone ever done that before?

ellisr wrote:Thanks for the reply.

Let me elaborate, I live and work in Singapore so have a local income. I own property in Australia. I do not have the 20% mortgage deposit needed in Singapore in cash, so I am looking for a way to use my Aussie properties as guarantee for a local mortgage.

Anyone ever done that before?

No, I've not seen that scenario before, but I do know a fellow who took a SG mortgage on an AU property. Same 20 percent rules... all was good until the AU dollar tanked and on paper, the house was worth less in SG dollars, hence, violating the 80 percent loan ratio. He had to put up a couple hundred thousand in cash to keep the bank from foreclosing.

AU dollar is riding high right now. If it tanks you could find yourself with a cash call.

Strong Eagle wrote:No, I've not seen that scenario before, but I do know a fellow who took a SG mortgage on an AU property. Same 20 percent rules... all was good until the AU dollar tanked and on paper, the house was worth less in SG dollars, hence, violating the 80 percent loan ratio. He had to put up a couple hundred thousand in cash to keep the bank from foreclosing.

AU dollar is riding high right now. If it tanks you could find yourself with a cash call.

I know someone who did about the same thing, but decided to stick with servicing the loan in AUD and enjoying their relatively (or rather, much) higher mortgage rates after deciding that the current rate presented too much risk.

Nevermind that she only took up a 50% loan thereby leaving her a huge buffer.

It's been a year and a half now, and the Aussie has barely budged, so that quite a few thousand gifted to the lending institution I guess!

Back to OP:

I have never heard of anyone doing that, and I suspect it can't be done due to taxation issues, but I am not able to say it with certainty. The same way people who borrow money here to buy property in Australia, they can't go there and stay after that without breaking taxation rules.

You'd probably get more information walking into the Singapore offices of NAB etc than you would walking into UOB.

I would suspect you can only get what you are looking for from an Australian lending institution, in Australia.

I have a mortgage from ANZS (ANZ Singapore) for some Australian properties. I asked them if I could cross collateralize for a Singapore mortgage some years ago and they told me no, I had to stump up the 30% deposit they wanted.... they actually applied the MAS rule of 30% for second mortgages onwards! I ended up drawing down on the ANZS as much as possible and using that cash as part of the deposit with Maybank for a local mortgage. HOWEVER, my information may be out of date; I have always found the private bankers at ANZS to be helpful. The problem they had was MAS rules; not taxation as alluded to above.

PS loan guru dot com dot sg were quite helpful.

teck21 wrote: I know someone who did about the same thing, but decided to stick with servicing the loan in AUD and enjoying their relatively (or rather, much) higher mortgage rates after deciding that the current rate presented too much risk.
....

couldnt the borrower purchase a call option to prevent against adverse forex movements?

This is for longer term not a short term policy for us.
Senario A
What if I were to get a SG mortgage to buy a UK property? Is that possible?

Senario B

Can I use my UK property as a collateral as well as some cash in the eventuality of buying a property here in SG?

Any banks here in SG will lend for both?

PrimroseHill wrote:This is for longer term not a short term policy for us.
Senario A
What if I were to get a SG mortgage to buy a UK property? Is that possible?

Senario B

Can I use my UK property as a collateral as well as some cash in the eventuality of buying a property here in SG?

Any banks here in SG will lend for both?

Maybe to both. You'll only know by talking to the banks. I've done A (for Australia); B is a bit more difficult I suspect.

Yes what most people do is apply with an Australian bank to get their deposit (typically 20% of purchase price plus costs) and then use that in Singapore. There are a few mortgage brokers in Australia such as Home Loan Experts or Map Mortgage Brokers that specialise in lending to expats and can sort it all out for you.

They don't do the loan in singapore itself, so the remainder of the finance you would get from a local bank.