I am a success story for someone getting a mortgage while on a spouse visa! Woo hoo!
We were definitely limited in choice for mortgage options. We worked with a mortgage broker who ensured that any mortgage product she showed us would lend to us using my spousal visa. In the end, our mortgage is with Halifax.
Things that worked in our favour; I've been in the UK for over 5 years, continuously employed and I had just renewed my visa and have more than 2 years remaining before it expires. We were limited to borrowing a maximum of £500k (scary number anyway, right?). Our mortgage rate is "okay". Not the best out there but not too much of a rip off either.
We converted our existing house (my husband's) to a Buy to Let and are now renting that out. Due to keeping the house, we have a lot of equity tied up in this property. We were able to get a 90% loan on our residential purchase.
Definitely an exciting time in our house. Let's just hope the market doesn't tank as I've got 2 houses in the game now!
Taxes are a whole different ball of wax and we took some professional advise on how to reduce exposure on the US tax side.
