Nadia Sadak, Sunday, 3 November 2013
This article is part of a series of 8 articles about buying property in Morocco. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
Getting a Mortgage in Morocco
Many people wonder if they can get a mortgage in Morocco to buy a property in the country. It is not uncommon to have foreigners from all over the
world wanting to purchase properties in the country. For as long as foreigners purchase city properties it will remain ok. Foreigners are only not
eligible to purchase land properties in the country. You can get a mortgage in Morocco whether you are a resident or foreigner. In fact, some
countries already let you go to Morocco with your mortgage in bank, however if you are not allowed to have such process done for you there is nothing
that will prevent you from doing it when you have landed in Morocco. First of all let’s get to know the names of the main banks that provide such
service in the country and that have the lowest rates and fees.
Some of the best reputable banks in Morocco that offer mortgages for residents and non-residents are the Societé Generale and the Banque Populaire.
These banks usually offer a very low-cost plan for you and will charge you not more than a couple hundred dollars as service fees. Of course the
banks
require some paperwork to be filled, however nothing overly complicated or tricky. It is much better for you to go on the whole process on your own
than to actually hire a broker to do it. In fact brokers charge fortunes to only guide you through the steps. If you would like to save money and
time
make sure you do some good research online and also visit banks as well. You will certainly be able to spend a lot of good money by doing this.
What you will need in order to get a mortgage in Morocco.
First of all it is a must that you open a bank account with one of the banks in Morocco, otherwise you will probably not be able to get a mortgage.
This happens because you need to signs contracts with the bank, and in case you are not in the country or do not have a bank account there things
will
become much, much harder for you. In order for you to get your dream mortgage do not worry, the whole process does not require you hire a broker, you
can do it all on your own, lawfully. In case you are not in Morocco and would like to get a mortgage in your home country, make sure you research
well
and see if your bank is international and can “connect” to the banks in Morocco, since they will be the ones receiving the money later on.
Rules
Moroccan banks will give as a mortgage up to 70% of the total value of the property that you wish to purchase. The maximum length that you will have
available for you to pay off the mortgage is 20 years. The Moroccan bank will also not charge you more than 40% of your total net income when
creating
the value that you will have to pay monthly. The interest that you will have to pay will be monthly, which means you will pay a little bit at a time
and every single month. Each bank will charge a specific amount of interest, which means it is impossible to know how much it will be for you. Each
case is a case, which means the interest charged will depend on the value of the mortgage, the period of time that you plan to pay the debt off and a
few other factors that vary from case to case. Also keep in mind that mortgages with fixed interest rates of in Morocco are not common, just like
interest -only mortgages.
In fact the mortgages that are done in Morocco will have its interest rates fixed and adjusted twice a year. Recently the mortgage rates in the
country range from 5% to 10%. In fact some banks in the country will not give foreigners any sort of mortgage (two good options to get a mortgage are
SocieteGenerale and BanquePopulaire). When you do business with these Moroccan banks will usually charge a monthly debt repayment type of mortgage.
You will not be able to get a interest-only type of mortgage.
In case the person who is interested in getting his second home in a new country, in this case Morocco, some things should be considered first. First
of all, if the foreigner already has another house in his home country, that is also under a mortgage status, getting a new mortgage in a new country
such as Morocco, might not be a very good option due to the values and etc. If you are planning on getting your first house in Morocco, then it will
probably be better, since you will not have to deal with paying older debts. Plus some countries also offer great advantages for locals when getting
their second mortgage locally, which means you should ponder your possibilities very carefully before you make any sort of decision. This is the
wisest thing to do in order for you not to regret anything in the future. It is always important to be careful when the subject is money, especially
when the money involved comes in larger quantities, such as in mortgages.