How do you relax in Spain on a Sunday?

Hi Paul,
We are buying on Naranjos and have opted to add to our UK mortgage. We were offered the PW mortgage by Banco Popular but the way the rates are going in Europe vs the UK opted for the UK. It is far simpler and fewer costs at completion. You are right - it's a minefield but good luck with your decision !

Hi Kevin/Elaine,

Must admit hadn't put too much thought into adding to UK mortgage but sounds like it's worth a look. Wasn't sure of the issues re completion, particularly as I thought Spanish Bankers Draft was required. I'm with Nationwide who don't have a Spanish branch so could be a problem. Terminology that the various banks use to list out completeion fees makes it difficult to do direct comparison. Caja Murcia sound ok but Halifax appears to be greater peace of mind as they're well known and naturally easier to converse with. 

Has anyone else opted for Caja Murcia?

Many thanks for your response Kevin/Elaine

Paul

 

Hi Paul

No I just gave up and went with who I know and they have been very informative and helpful so far, plus for us we can pay off the balance in 10% or greater amount without penalties and we have our uk mortgage with Halifax. Plus I considered if I had a problem with them in future I would have both UK and Spain to have a go at in future.

I also couldn’t see the supposed benefit of going for the builders mortgage being in our interest as I had so much hassle getting any information from them in the first place and to my shame don’t speak any Spanish, not even spanglish so on occasions had problems communicating with the local branch by phone which isn’t a problem with Banco Halifax.

So as you can see it was more a personal decision that a financial decision that made me decide to go with Halifax but I don’t think the difference is significant.

Hope this explains

Good look, that coffee may need a brandy in soon

Phil

Paul,
We have opened a UK and Spanish bank account with Halifax. If we had needed to we would transfer our funds via a broker (we have already forward purchased the euros at 1.27 - that was lucky) into the Spanish account and got a bankers draft from there. As it is, our solicitor is settling all our bills so we will be transferring the completion amount to him a few days before we complete.
You will need a Spanish bank account anyway for settling monthly water, electricity, community charge, etc bills. The Halifax seem very good for this.
We also wanted to avoid the hassle of transferring cash every month to pay the mortgage and being exposed to the exchange rates to a large extent in the future. Doing it this way we don't have that hassle. Our UK mortgage offer arrived two days after we'd spoken to the bank so it was just so easy !

Hi Kevin/Elaine and Phil/Ann,

You've confirmed my thoughts so many thanks, decision made. I had a call with Caja Murcia and was understanding 1 in 4 words which didn't bode well for future correspondance. I will submit Halifax application form tomorrow.

Phil/Ann- Look forward to hopefully meeting up on-site in a couple of weeks

Kevin/Elaine - Trust we will also meet up in the near future as well.

Thanks again for the advice

Paul