5 Important Mortgage Guidelines to follow for your Cayman Home

Pre-approval for your Mortgage:

Interview with banks / Choose your top bank and negotiate your mortgage rate. When discussing a mortgage with your loan officer it is a good idea to have them provide you with a list of documents required for approval, depending on your situation, for example; where you are from & how long you have been resident in the Cayman Islands (?)

They will require credit information and or a letter of introduction from your previous bank, having the referral items, credit rating items and the bank's list of requirements prior to your visit will allow you to speed up the mortgage approval process.

Your Total Cost:

• Stamp Duty (this is a one-time fee payable to the Cayman Islands Government on the real estate value of the purchase which is set at 7.5%)
• Down Payment (always budget for about 10% (for local) and up to 30% for permit based or foreign status, of the total cost of the purchase price of the property)
• Valuation (If you are making your real estate purchase with bank financing, the banks within the Cayman Islands will require a valuation of the property conducted by an approved surveyor)
• Life Insurance (buying a property in the Cayman Islands using local bank financing, the bank will require each owning party/signatory to obtain life insurance covering the total amount of the mortgage)
• Home Insurance (in the event of a hurricane, fire, flooding or alternate damage should occur at your home and contents insurance will help relieve the stress by providing funds for rebuilding or repairing a damaged home and replacing contents)
• Legal Fees (an attorney should always be appointed to act on your behalf to prepare the necessary legal documentation and representation for closing)

Finding a home that suits your budget and needs: Once you have established a budget, you start examining what you and your family top five requirements in a home are, this will aide and ease finding a property that you identify you will be comfortable in for years to come.

Offer to Purchase: You have found your special property that you would like to purchase, you then transition into the stage of placing an offer and if need be start the negotiation process.

Time to Close: Once all the conditions of and to the purchase have been satisfied, the offer to purchase becomes unconditional and both parties can move towards closing on or before the prescribed closing date.