Ex-pat Mortgage (again!)

rOAdeh

Hi guys,

Been reading a number of threads here around this subject, but everyone seems to have their own definite circumstances and so a lot of the advice seems to vary depending on the OP's requirements. My situation is as follows;

I've lived in Oz for 8 months; currently my visa expires in Oct 2015 (and for all intents and purposes I will have to return to the UK at that point - although I have no idea if I actually will).
I've around £90k that I'm wanting to invest into a property that I can rent out. I am only looking at UK property, as I have no idea if I'll be able to attain residency here, and don't want a property in a country that I can't live in!

I'm very early in the planning stage, but I imagine my deposit would be somewhere between 33-50% of the house value. I have a family friend who runs an agency that will give me a good rate on a complete managed agency service, so that the house should be entirely self-sustaining (although I can cover additional costs if this is not the case). However, it is my first mortgage and so it all seems fairly intimidating!

To keep above board, it looks like I'll have to get a BTL mortgage? Specifically one targeted to ex-pats? Is there a way to do this through a guarantor in the UK to avoid the increased premium that these bring?

Are there any specific lenders that I should consider - Googling does not return many familiar brand names? Do most traditional lenders not provide this service at all?

Thanks for any help,

Ben