Buying an apartment in London

Despite the horror stories I've read on this group about buying in the UK, I still hate the idea of paying rent.  I'm moving to London in a couple of weeks and would like to consider buying an apartment... a one bedroom.  I plan to stay in England for about 3 years, at that time I may or may not want to keep the place...
First of all, is it possible to buy without a down payment?
I have never been a home owner in the US.  How would I deal with the fact that I have no credit history in the UK.  Is there a way to "transfer" your credit history?
Is it realistic that (if I'm agressive) I can purchase and move into a place within approx 2 months ?

Any advice would be appreciated...

Buying a home in the UK is a long process.  Credit cannot be transferred over, so you will have no credit here.  Without having credit, you will find it difficult to get a mortgage.  Not saying it can't be done, but you won't get any good rates.

It would be best for you to rent for a year, look around and try to build up your credit history.

hiya

Is it possible to buy without a downpayment? - Yes it is possible! a 100% mortgage is what you need. These mortgages allow you to buy without putting down a deposit. In essence, so long as you can afford the repayments you can buy a place. The 'nuances' of getting the 100% mortgage is what you need to research next. Often, the interest rates are higher and other clauses etc (cant think of em right now!)  Do some research on financial institutons offering mortgages as to how your personal situation places your eligibility in getting different types of mortgages... dont forget to include all the extra costs in - council tax, utilities, insurances, maintenence charges!

I don't think theres way's of transferring credit history, unless the institution you are with in the US has UK offices which recognise aspects of your financial standing. I'm with HSBC and I do know they can 'look favourably' on UK bankers in the HSBC branches in the US

It is possible to see, do paperwork and move into a place within 2 months, although it's rare. When I bought my flat, the whole process took 3.5 weeks!! according to some property sites, I think the average time is usually around 3 months to complete ( i may be wrong!

Good luck! & keep us posted!
Cheers! Dennis! West London & Slough UK!!

do you have UK nationality?  Or EU nationality? 

The major problem a lot of lenders have w/expats is sometimes when they are on a visa w/time restrictions.  This makes them a big risk to lend to, b/c they may or may not be able to stay, and statistically they're a great risk of defaulting and walking away.

If you fall into this category, good luck to you, especially getting a 100% mortgage.  If you find such, the rate will be anything but good.

Keep in mind that there are also fees and stamp duty involved in purchasing in the UK, so you'll need to either have or borrow the money to cover these, too. 

i don't mean to put a downer on your ideas but wanted to tell you my expereince.  i had lived here for 22 months, my visa was set to expire at 24 months.  my company had every intention of renewing the visa for an additional 3 years but the paperwork hadn't been started yet.  i found the house i wanted and put an offer in.  a bit blindly.

after a lot of hassle... rushing to get the work permit, and then the FLR, then staying on to of my solicistor, getting survey, etc...  but from offer to move in was 6 weeks.

in terms of mortgage.  my mortgage broker said that they would not give me a visa unless i had 2+ years left on my visa.  this is becuase any less they would see me as a flight risk.  they would only go up to 4.1 times my salary and I had to have a 15% down payment. 

best bet- talk to a mortgage broker.  they're more familiar with the system.  explain your situation and see if you have any options. 

It's funny how if anything can favor you it won't translate over e.g credit history, but anything that hurts you e.g. criminal record, will strangely enough translate over. F'ing bar stewards!

The same companies compiling credit history reports in the US are also catering to the needs of creditors in the UK, and yet UK lenders won't look at someone's US credit history. WTF! you just log into something like freecreditreport.com (pay the $40, so not free really) and get someone's credit report and score etc.

Seriously, all the wrong people are in all the right jobs and the world is led by idiots. I  can't wait to the nuclear showdown between Isreal, UK, US and most of Europe on one hand and Iran and Co on the other.

Thanks for all the advice!

I can see how not being a UK/EU citizen (i'm not) could make this more challenging.  Also, I'm entering on an HSMP visa, which is only 1 year to begin with...  I guess I was secretly hoping that maybe I can somehow pull this off easily, and I'm sure it can be done, but now on second thought I'm not sure that I want to deal with it all... So I'll most likely end up renting...

After my first year or two, if I can see myself staying longer I guess I'll look into buying more seriously.

I  can't wait to the nuclear showdown between Isreal, UK, US and most of Europe on one hand and Iran and Co on the other.

 
WTF...YAFF 

So I'll most likely end up renting...

After my first year or two, if I can see myself staying longer I guess I'll look into buying more seriously.

You may also find, with time, that you prefer a specific area more than you initially realised when you first arrived.

Hiya

Yep the one way which is ASSURED you can buy is just like almost everything else in modern life - Money.

If you have a 'sizeable' amount of dosh, you can buy anything. It's almost as easy as that!

E.g the other way around for me. I want to buy a place in the USA. I'm not American, have no credit there, no history there whatsoever so am like you in that respect over here. However, I've spoken to a few mortgage specialists, property people etc and if i was for instance to drop a 30% deposit on a property, I can pretty much be assured I'll get a 70% mortgage. The fact I have no credit, history or standing within the US magically then becomes 'glossed over' !!

It's the same here too, to buy here that way means 'just getting a 20-30% deposit, a mortgage then will be available to you!

The next step out of all that is to raid yer piggy banks and see if you have enough!

there are other elements of course, what I've mentioned is basically a Buy to Let mortgage here, so I'm unsure if you could 'arrange' one of those and live in it yourself or if you can get a normal mortgage by placing a large deposit and living in the property yourself

I know you'll be looking through the Yellow pages at 'Mortgage advisors' in the near future!

good luck !

Dennis! West London & Slough UK (already have my rental apartment with tennants, else I'd have let it to you!)