Which apartments are suitable for a mortgage: we understand the requirements of banks

Nikolai Kosyak, head of the Rambler/Finance project at Rambler&Co, answers:

When issuing a mortgage for the purchase of real estate, the bank assesses its liquidity. The fact is that the purchased property is often the subject of collateral for the bank, which guarantees timely repayment of the loan. Therefore, it is required that a private house purchased with a mortgage meet certain characteristics.

The first part of the requirements is technical specifications. The house should not be in disrepair; all its structural parts must be in good working order. It is desirable that the house have a concrete, brick or stone foundation. In this case, the wear and tear of the home should be no more than 50%. That is, a dilapidated hut built at the beginning of the last century is not suitable.

The next important requirement is the availability of communications and infrastructure. Banks often require that a private home have year-round access and the communications necessary for life. The house must also be well-equipped: amenities on the street will not work.

In addition, the credit institution will also make demands on the land plot, since it is impossible to buy a house separately without a land plot. The site must be surveyed, and its boundaries must be indicated in the documents. The category of the land plot also matters. Thus, it is easiest to get a mortgage for a partial house, which is built on the lands of settlements with permitted use “for individual housing construction”, “for personal farming”, etc. Also, the bank can approve a loan application if the house is located on agricultural lands “for dacha construction” or “for personal farming”, however, such transactions are more difficult to carry out.

Required Documentation

When applying for a mortgage you will need the following package of documents:

passport of both parties to the agreement;
report received after the assessment work;
extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate on the website;
a certificate that confirms the seller’s ownership;
extract from the house register;
cadastral and technical passports.

Each financial institution establishes an individual list of documents required to obtain a mortgage. But the main part remains unchanged.

Banks often require you to present a personal account statement, which confirms the absence of debts on utility bills.

Applying for a mortgage takes place in several successive stages:

Submitting an application.
Appraisal of the apartment.
Submitting a package of documents along with the assessment report to the bank.
Mortgage insurance (usually the insurance policy covers both the property itself and the life of the borrower).
Making a down payment, signing documents.
The purchase and sale transaction with the seller within the terms according to the contract.

The transfer of ownership of the apartment must be registered with Rosreestr.

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The head of the city real estate department, Yana Sergeeva, answers:

Banks that provide mortgage funds for the purchase of suburban real estate have fairly similar requirements for the property. A plot of land, a house and other capital construction projects must be registered in the cadastral register. The residential building must have communications: heating, running water and electricity. In addition, it is necessary to have appropriate agreements with service providers.

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Purchase procedure with a mortgage

Banks have a multi-level verification system. This is not surprising, because large amounts are usually issued, which means that all the lender’s risks must be taken into account. How to purchase housing with a mortgage:

First of all, find out what kind of housing is given a mortgage in the bank of your choice. If you are satisfied with its conditions, collect the necessary package of documents and submit an application for consideration online or in the branch.
If the lender's answer is positive, start looking for an apartment that fits the stated rules. You need to notify the bank about which apartment you have decided to buy with a mortgage and collect documents for it. Submit them to the mortgage department for verification and wait for the result.
Sign the purchase agreement and give the down payment to the seller. How money is transferred during a mortgage to the seller is described in detail in the following article.
Complete the necessary loan documentation at the bank and go to Rosreestr to register the transaction.
Receive completed registration documents and submit them to the bank. You will be credited with credit funds that must be transferred to the seller. This completes the mortgage process.

Recommended article: Reducing the rate on existing mortgages of Rosselkhozbank

Read about the procedure for registering ownership of an apartment with a mortgage in another article.

The procedure for considering an apartment may vary. Some lenders limit themselves to a formal legal check, while others consider it necessary to have the apartment inspected by a mortgage specialist. What exactly is the bank interested in when it decides what kind of housing to give a mortgage to the borrower?

First of all, compliance with the basic requirements for the property is checked. If the lender identifies critical discrepancies, you will have to look for another apartment. It is worth noting that the very first approval for the borrower remains valid. You just need to choose a property that suits the bank's conditions.

It is for this reason that you need to clarify the rules for approving real estate in advance, because no one will return the expenses already incurred to you. For example, an assessment report will cost 2-5 thousand rubles, and it is very expensive to do it for every apartment you like.

The second stage of verification is the compliance of the planned transaction with the requirements of the law. Lawyers will check the legality of the seller’s sale of the apartment and whether there are risks of cancellation of his ownership rights. The purchase agreement, which will be signed as part of the mortgage transaction, and other papers are studied.

Is it worth getting a mortgage through realtors - pros and cons

Another important point is checking whether the information submitted to the bank corresponds to the real state of affairs. As we have already said, the value in the appraisal report may be incorrect. In this case, the lender takes a big risk by agreeing to issue a mortgage. Some banks practice on-site and personal inspections, others only accept reports from certain appraisers.

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Author:

Mortgage specialist Maria Yurievna Sokhan

Publication dateOctober 14, 2019October 15, 2019

Yulia Simanovskaya, Director of the Department of Legal Support of Transactions at Tekta Group, answers:

When deciding to provide a loan for the purchase of a house (or apartment), banks evaluate their risks and the possibility of returning the funds provided not only from the point of view of the financial capabilities of the borrowers, but also from the point of view of the profitability of the transaction. It is possible that the borrower will not have enough funds to repay the loan. In this case, banks will have to decide on their own whether to sell the mortgaged real estate and return the funds. Therefore, at the verification stage, credit institutions must understand whether they will be able to sell the property, for what money and within what time frame if the borrower stops repaying the loan.

When selling an individual residential building, the main criteria are:

location of the house in the city (relative to the city center, unfavorable areas, availability of developed infrastructure);
condition of the property (the house should not be in disrepair or subject to demolition);
quality characteristics of the house (material and condition of walls, foundations, ceilings, wear and tear of the house, layout, condition and provision of engineering infrastructure, number of floors, quality of finishing and engineering systems, completeness and quality of plumbing);
availability of title documents (absence of illegal redevelopment, registered land plot, registered and living in the house, presence of minor children).

In general, real estate should be of interest to the bank as a collateral for possible subsequent sale.

Conditions

Sberbank was one of the first to offer the opportunity to apply for a mortgage.

There are branches in every city, and the online resource works great.

Anyone can find out all the conditions and submit an application as soon as they wish.

To obtain a positive decision in 2016, individuals must meet several conditions:

first of all, you need to have savings that are equal to 15 percent of the cost of housing, or 10 if the borrower participates in the “Young Family” program;
a loan can only be issued for real estate in the Russian Federation;
the borrower must be a citizen of Russia, must have no criminal record or have an expunged criminal record;
age at the time of loan must range from 21 to 75;
The work experience must be at least six months and a total of at least one year.

These simple conditions are easy to comply with; the main thing is to correctly collect the package of documents. In most cases, Sberbank does not refuse bona fide borrowers with a good credit history; everyone can count on purchasing their own home. (You can download a sample application form for a mortgage at Sberbank here).

Sergey Ilyasaev, General Director of Rezidential Group, answers:

The concept of a house suitable for a mortgage means that the property satisfies the conditions of banks, which can issue a loan to the buyer for its purchase. At the same time, the requirements of different financial organizations for secondary real estate objects may differ. I would like to note that in the primary market, banks themselves accredit properties and are ready to issue mortgage loans for the purchase of apartments in new buildings.

Let's consider the most common restrictions on collateral, the essence of which is subordinated to the concept of further liquidity of the house on the market.

Location in the city structure. If the house is located in a depressed and low-income area, next to industrial zones, as well as other unfavorable objects, then it can easily be considered unsuitable.
The house should not be dilapidated, unsafe or intended for demolition. Usually, when purchasing an object, the resource life of its possible operation is estimated, which should be at least 70% of the period specified in the construction passport of the house.
The building should not have old wooden floors or geysers, which could lead to the liquidation of the pledged property.

Speaking about the legal aspects of “suitability of a house for a mortgage”, it should be noted that banks are much more favorable towards real estate, the last owners of which have been its owners for three years or more.

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How to choose an apartment for a military mortgage

Which apartments are suitable for a military mortgage? There are no strict requirements for apartments purchased with a military mortgage. There is a certain algorithm that works in such cases:

The apartment is located in a multi-storey building. It doesn't matter whether it's a new building or a secondary home.
Apartments in a building consisting of isolated blocks are suitable for purchase.
You can only purchase a communal apartment in its entirety, and not a separate room in it.
Objects with wooden floors are not suitable or they should be in a minimum quantity. This reduces the likelihood of a fire spreading quickly.
Housing should not have an owner.

Taking out a mortgage is not a problem, but there may be difficulties when buying a house with land.

A military mortgage can also be approved for an apartment on the primary market, even if the house has not yet been completed.

Although the law on military mortgages is constantly being revised, its essence does not change: a serviceman can buy any housing, including a private house with a plot.

Requirements for the borrower

The procedure for applying for a mortgage loan is complex, and to obtain a loan it is not enough to comply with the conditions or provide all the necessary documents. There is also a point that concerns the requirements for borrowers. Subject to compliance with them and the availability of a complete package of documents, a loan is provided. Currently, the requirements for this type of lending are as follows:

The borrower must be at least 21 years old at the time of the loan, and not older than 75 years at the time of its repayment;
Having citizenship of the Russian Federation. Also, in some cases, temporary citizenship and registration in the country are allowed;
Work experience over the last five years should not be less than one year. In this case, the borrower must have at least six months of experience at the current enterprise.

These are standard requirements that Sberbank imposes on persons receiving a loan. If the borrower is unable to repay the loan debt on time, then the co-borrower does this for him, who signs the mortgage agreement together with him. The borrower has the opportunity to attract up to three such persons. They are also subject to certain requirements.

You also need to find a guarantor. This will be an additional guarantee of fulfillment of debt obligations to Sberbank.

Features of the building's location

First of all, you should know the location requirements:

An apartment building must be in acceptable sanitary and technical condition and not subject to demolition. You can find out whether a house will be subject to resettlement or demolition by contacting the administration of a given territorial entity;
An apartment located in a private house (barracks) without central heating and sewerage is not subject to consideration only if, according to the documents, it is a share or has more than 50% wear and tear on the building;
The apartment or house must be located on the territory of the Russian Federation, with the exception of the Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol, since Sberbank does not have offices in these territories;
The seller must submit an application having owned the apartment or house for at least three years. Otherwise, problems may arise in the future if the seller’s relatives begin to claim part or all of the housing;
Dormitories and hotel-type premises are quite suitable for Sberbank;
Lenders have a negative attitude towards apartments located in the basement, on the lower or top floor;
The property must be located in developed areas, there must be hospitals, schools and kindergartens;
They rarely lend to “Stalin” buildings - because of the wooden interfloor ceilings and “Khrushchev” buildings.

Recommended article: Mortgage with government support: features of the loan program

These restrictions are due to the liquidity requirement of the premises, which must be presented to the bank as a guarantee for the return of funds. A collateral that does not meet at least one of the conditions will be extremely difficult to sell.

Legal nuances

Housing undergoes a two-level inspection in accordance with all the above requirements, the possibility of maintaining the value of this housing throughout the entire mortgage period is considered. After these operations, the time comes for a legal audit, during which the following occurs:

Assessment of the cost of residential space on the market, which is carried out with the participation of an independent expert selected by Sberbank;
Monitoring the legal purity of a future transaction, in which potential candidates for property will be identified, taking into account minors, incompetents or those serving a sentence, discharged due to violation of legal requirements;
Checking the full compliance of the technical characteristics of the property and the information contained in the documents.

However, many owners of residential space, usually involved in repurchasing real estate, seek to reduce the amount in the purchase and sale agreement. When concluding a transaction with the participation of any financial organization, this opportunity appears only when the client pays the entire remaining cost himself. This happens due to taxation; in accordance with the relevant legal requirement, the amount of funds from the sale of residential space that has been in the seller’s possession for less than five years is subject to taxation on that part of the property whose price exceeds 1 million rubles. At the same time, the bank usually enters into transactions with owners who have owned real estate for more than five years.

Recommended article: Is it worth taking out a mortgage: assessing the risks and your capabilities

Even if the owner of the property considers its inflated price to be justified, he will need to reduce the value to the level determined as a result of an independent examination during a legal audit. The bank will give approval only if the seller approves the discount and the cost of the living space does not exceed the amount specified by the expert. However, if the client expresses a willingness to bear all additional costs, the seller can negotiate with the buyer, which will serve as an alternative solution to the cost issue.