Caribbean Mortgage Services was the first independent mortgage brokerage to be set up in Barbados and continues to be the catalyst that has transformed the Barbados mortgage industry with innovative services, product and public awareness.

We work closely with all the leading players in real estate sales and in the provision of property finance, but particularly with the lenders.

Barbados has around ten serious mortgage players but only half of them provide non-resident mortgage loans. These have to be in a foreign currency and approved by the Central Bank of Barbados.

In recent times the terms and conditions relating to non-resident loans have improved with longer repayment terms, fixed rate, and interest-only mortgages for an initial five-year period with a repayment term to follow. The Barbados mortgage market is conservative and has a limited range of product and a culture of risk averse. Quite often it is a case of getting an application approved rather than securing the lowest interest rate. In general terms there isn't a queue of lenders fighting for the business and applications have to be of a high caliber to be accepted. The market does not support buy-to-let, non-status, flexible or tracker rate applications. 

Applications take time to process and if they are not presented with all the relevant information it will prolong the process.

All mortgagors require legal representation and the mortgagee also has lawyers acting on their behalf. The applicant pays their own mortgagor legal fees and also those of the mortgagee. The legal process is complicated by the addition of the vendor's lawyers and the challenge of getting three legal firms working together at the same time.

All mortgage applications are subject to a satisfactory valuation report provided by a valuer approved by the lender and paid for by the applicant.

Generally repayment terms are between 20-25 years and the maximum loan-to-value is 75% but may be lower. Borrowing in US$ has been the most attractive currency in the past few years where the interest rate is linked to the three-month US$ LIBOR rate plus the lender's mark-up. Current rates are available on request.

For more information telephone Clarence Hiles at 246 228 2188 or by email at clarence@caribbeanmortgages.com.