Your Right to Know

A mortgage is a loan from a bank that helps you purchase a home. You then pay the mortgage plus interest back in monthly Instalment over a set number of years.

Banks in the UAE can lend to:

• Residents (UAE nationals & expats)
• Non-residents
• Salaried
• Self-employed

85% if you are UAE national 80% if you are non-UAE national 70% if the property is over AED 5 million 60% if you’re buying your second or third property.

Loan to value or LTV is the amount a bank will finance on the property you are purchasing.

A NOC is a legal document that is required from the developer confirming that there are no outstanding service charges and/or fees regarding the property, allowing the transfer of ownership to happen.

For salaried expats/non-residents the cap is 25 years or until the age of 65 For self-employed expats/non-residents the cap is 25 years or until the age of 70 For UAE nationals the cap is 25 years or until the age of 70.

When you are on your own, you will have to approach multiple lenders and go through the hassle, while wasting a lot of time. At fäm Mortgages we examine your case and determine the best outcome for you while taking advantage of our relationships with the banks.

Mortgage interest rates vary from bank to bank. Rates are dependent on if you are salaried, self-employed, resident or non-resident. It can be as low as 1.79%+EIBOR and go up to around 5%.

Most banks in the UAE require you to have a minimum monthly salary of AED 15k to qualify for a home loan, although some banks may consider applicants with a monthly salary of AED 10k.

A principle is the amount you borrowed that you have to pay back without including interest.

A tenor is the life of a loan.

DBR is the ratio of debt burden income. It is used by banks to determine the credit eligibility of an applicant. DBR is calculated by an individual's monthly liabilities over their monthly income as a percentage.

The Emirates Interbank Offered Rate (EIBOR) is the benchmark interest rate, stated in UAE Dirhams, for lending between banks within the United Arab Emirates market. EIBOR is calculated daily by the Central Bank of the UAE.

Security cheques have to be given to the lender, which are used as a guarantee for the credit. The lender will ask you to provide multiple undated cheques for the full amount of the credit as a minimum. All UAE banks require a security cheque for any types of credit such as credit cards, personal loans, and mortgages.

You should typically set aside about 7% of the property price for Land Department, valuation, processing, and life insurance fees.

A valuation is done to assess the actual market value of the property. It is usually done by a third party company as instructed by the bank.