Looking to secure a mortgage for property in Australia?

For Aussie and Kiwi expats JANINE and TROY MANNING, securing a family home in Australia was always part of their transition plan. We asked about accomplishing their goal – and how the team from Odin Mortgage helped.

What brought the two of you to Hong Kong?

We were seeking an adventure that combined professional goals and our travel bucket list. Hong Kong came onto the radar with some exciting opportunities (a leadership role for Troy, and the possibility for Janine to expand her executive coaching company). With very limited experience and no look-see visit, we arrived with an 18-month-old, and seven months pregnant with number two.

What drove you to invest in the Australian property market?

As two “country kids” from our respective countries, raising our kids in open spaces with fresh air was always our plan. We had owned in New Zealand but hadn’t bought in Australia yet; but knew we wanted to settle there, so buying a family home we could rent out while abroad made total sense.

What we hadn’t banked on was the property market in Australia skyrocketing during COVID! While we would have preferred to have bought in person, we had to act fast to secure a home that opened up the education opportunities we wanted for our kids.

Did you secure finance before you started your search?

Yes. After attempting to secure a mortgage ourselves with one of the big banks in Australia – and realising how many hurdles there were in place for expats – we reached out to several mortgage b brokers. Odin Mortgage s stood out from the rest. We wanted to know that we could borrow what we needed before investing copious time in searching for a home online.

How was the property search, and what did you buy?

Initially, it was exciting and full of possibility, but it quickly turned to overwhelming as we watched properties we loved sell in three days or less! We moved our search to one suburb out from our target zone, opting to buy a transitional home instead of the beach location we wanted. With a “stealth approach”, we bought a beautiful family home with a pool in a quiet suburb in Perth, Western Australia. Happy family!

What challenges did you face when securing finance?

Navigating the Kiwi/Australian dynamic to overcome the overseas investor label and Janine’s self-employment were our greatest initial barriers to securing finance. Also, living overseas with the tighter lending rules ensured we had a lot of hoops to jump through to secure a mortgage that worked for us. The Odin Mortgage team was relentless in helping us identify the best route to success and in negotiating a really competitive interest rate.

Why would you recommend Odin Mortgage to other expats?

Because they had our back from day one. They went above and beyond to listen and really understand what we wanted, and they went hard to make it happen. They constantly pre-empted our needs, going above and beyond to make the process as seamless and painless as possible. We were blown away and so appreciative.

While we’ve been out hiking the trails and hitting the beaches in HK, our property support team, involving Odin Mortgage and a Perth-based buyer’s agent, have been doing the heavy lifting for us.