Remortgage your second home to help your finances back home
Remortgage your second home to help your finances back home
Property investors with a second home abroad have been presented with an alternative strategy to cope with money worries in the current economic climate. The Observer explains how remortgaging your holiday home could work to your financial advantage.
As the euro remains strong against the pound, UK investors are less active in the eurozone property market. Therefore, rather than selling up, owners are being advised to remortgage their home overseas; the cash generated through remortgaging the property would then serve as a financial buffer.
Simon Conn from
Brighton-based Conti Financial Services explained how the tactic could work: "They [home owners] can set the money [from remortgaging] against their UK property, which in turn can help them remortgage to a better deal on their main home now that lenders are tightening their criteria."
Remortgaging is as yet not as common in
Europe as it is in the UK, according to financial group HiFx. However, Jane Ayliff of the company says that the practice is on the up in countries such as
France,
Portugal and
Italy.
Ayliff explained that people are looking to remortgage for various reasons; it may be that they did not get the best deal first time round or they may be looking to make improvements to their property. Meanwhile, Conn advised potential investors not to buy "in the heat of the moment", without a mortgage, in the first instance, as they may have problems further down the line if they decide to take out a mortgage later.
This story was brought to you by holiday
lettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 holiday home website.
16 June 2008
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