Looking for a Spanish Mortgage

We are looking for a mortgage on a Spanish property in Costa Almeria. We already have an in principle agreement with Barclays at Euribor +1.5% (less fees as my wife is staff) which we have been told is a lot. During our trip last week, we were told that we could see a mortgage advisor (obviously not independent but it would have been a start) but we never did. We have managed to get a hold of the advisor to be told the fee is €650 which seems an awful lot compared to the UK where the advisor either gets a "kickback" from the bank/ building society or fees are about £300. We also need to ask them whether it is afee for just looking or payable on arrangement/ completion.

Does anyone have any recommendations please?

Mark

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Contact "Smiley", a member on EOS, he's a mortgage broker on the CDS, Mark. Currently he's on holiday.

 

This message was last edited by morerosado on 7/21/2007.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

The only thing with brokers is that they charge broker fees. Sounds like you have a good deal with Barclays. We went with halifax via UK international department. Shop around.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

I don't mind paying a broker fees, so long as we get a reasonably good deal. I object to paying a broker that sits on their ar*e and says "you want this one" without giving any options. I have already had a conversation with Sharon today and it seems she may be able to do a better deal and the fees are much cheaper than already quoted. Once we have a few ideas of what is about, we will be able to make a choice.

Mark

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Mark

That's why i am telling you to shop around. Our FA's in work don't charge broker fees and can get the best deals on UK mortgages but obviously you have to have a Spanish mortgage to buy Spanish property. See what's about like we did.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

We didn't have a mortgage to buy our Spanish property so I don't know the first thing about Spanish mortgages, any more than I know about UK mortgages as we haven't a mortgage on our UK home either these days. Of course shop around. That goes without saying.

Is that the case then, Gina, that to buy a Spanish property you need a Spanish mortgage ? I really wasn't aware of that. Is it because the lender usually (UK) goes to the property to assess what it's worth so they can figure out what they'll lend, which of course they can't do with a property in Spain, I guess. It's just I've been following a programme on C4 (was on last night 8 - 8.30pm) & this couple bought a place in Barcelona with a UK mortgage !!!

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi,

We need a mortgage on the property we are buying.  We considered remortgaging our property in the UK.  Also looked at various Spanish banks.

Now we are in the process of downsizing in the UK (kids have up and gone and the house is too big for us anyway) and  Patrick of Marbella Mortgages is arranging a mortgage for us on the Spanish one.

He does give a personal touch.  Offers advice and various products.  Maybe not the cheapest, but I am holding him to his promise of "holding our hands" through the whole process!!

Ellen

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Morerosado

Yes up until last year that was the case, whether it has changed now I don't know, but when we did it the application was done via UK but still had to go through Spanish underwriters to process the application, survey and issue mortgage offer.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

We took out a small mortgage because we wanted to retain our capital when we bought 5 years ago.

We have oue mortgage with BBVA Bank. It was arranged really quickly with the minimum amount of fuss and no delay, all we did was go to the bank and show proof of income, they did a survey upon completion of our property and that was that! We had the offer 'in principle' about a year before we used the mortgage. I don't know if the system is still the same but it's worth exploring. Also our tax liability in Spain ( we no longer pay UK tax ) is helped due to having the mortgage.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi Morerosado and Candyfloss,

I too have been following this programme, which is very entertaining!  however Rocco re mortgaged in the UK against his UK property to release equity to pay the deposit.  His broker then acquired a Spanish mortgage for the balance.   

There are lenders that will provide Sterling mortgages on Spanish properties, Leeds being one of them!

 

Regards

Sharon

sharon@tmasspain.com

 

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Thanks Sharon

Costa Chaos is a highly entertaining series with Dawn & Rocco. What a pair ? I loved Dawn trying to cope with saying one phrase consisting of two words each time a Spanish person asked her something in the bar she squeezed work out of. Coping with Rocco would've sent me into a lunatic asylum.

For everyone who hasn't watched it you've missed a very funny (but meant to be serious) programme series but it's still ongoing on Fridays C4 at 8 - 8.30pm UK time.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Someone on another forum has suggested subrogating the builders mortgae as we could save on some fees. I was lead to believe that taking over the builders mortgage would be expensive, does anyone else have any opinions on it please?

Mark

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

I took a mortgage on our new Spanish property to tide me over until I can sell my existing one.  Went through Halifax UK and they gave it to me with no questions.  The only details I gave was that it was a house in Spain.  Nada mas!  Got the mortgage agreement in 2 days and transferred it to Spain a week later.

Whether they have classed it as a re-mortgage on my UK property (which had a mortgage of £500 to avoid early fees and the £50 a year to keep the deeds in a safe place) or not I don't know.  Obviously, I'm paying the now iniquitious interest on it but there are no penalties for early payment so as soon as my flat is sold I'll pay it off (less the £500, of course).

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi Mark you can subrogate the deve;opers mortgage on new build or in fact in Spain it is possible to subrogate on a resale as well. IN theory sibrogation should be cheaper as the developer has already paid a great deal of the mortgage expenses such as mortgage tax and Notary fees. The downside is that it is likely to be quite an inflexible product on a repayment basis with a limited term of 15 or maybe 20 years depending on the bank. It is important to get it right from day one as currently it is extremely costly to transfer a mortgage to a new lender in Spain (typically 5% or more of the advance) - it is also a less straightforward process than exists in the UK. However there are one or two lenders looking at covering some of those costs for you - whether it is a product that would be around when a possible remortgage is being considered is anyones guess as it is currently in a trial period.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

 

I agree that it’s better to get it right 1^st time (but we all know how hard that is to do, Hindsight is usually the place we finally find our better judgement).

There is currently a mortgage products which will pay almost all of the costs of remortgaging and get you on a long term interest only rate to boot.

A welcome respite to many of us who had to suffer the penalty of making this mistake and taking the developers mortgage which is usually very uncompetitive and greatly increases our costs of ownership.

 

fjoseph@puor.co.uk

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

I also  agree this a good product for remortgagers, however there is a but:

The customer will be obliged to repay all fees and commissions if the mortgage is repaid during the first 5 years.

Sharon

sharon@tmasspain.com

 

 

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi there

I keep reading about "subrogatetion" in fact my lawyer asked if I wanted to "surogate".Please can someone explain what it means in simple language !!

We are about to take out a mortgage with Bancaja but I am shocked by the taxes  etc involved,has anyone any ideas ?

Thank you

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi Gillian,

Subrogation means taking over a mortgage, keeping the same conditions.  if you are buying from a developer then it means taking the mortgage that they already have in place and the interest rate and term will be be as what is on offer. The conditions cannot be changed.     By doing this fees and taxes are lower, e.g. there is no valuation fee, no stamp duty to pay on the loan amount, notary and registry fees are halved and instead of paying the bank opening fee there is the subrogation fee to pay and this is a difference of 0.5% (normally bank commission is generally 1%).

it is very important to note that this is not always the best option even if you are saving on the set up costs as the terms may not be  favourable and should you decide to change in the furture, re mortgaging costs are very expensive, around 5%.

The product applicable to remortgaging that has been mentioned in this thread previously where the lender pays the fees is classed as 'Novation' where certain conditions can change, e.g. the term can be extended or reduced and switching to Interest Only BUT THE BALANCE MUST REMAIN THE SAME!   If the balance needs to be changed to a higher amount then this is classed as Ampliation and this lender will NOT pay the fees etc. Plus there is a 1% commission to pay to the lender. 

As seperate note, where subrogating your existing mortgage to another lender for e.g. a better rate, there is a set legal procedure to follow. 

Hope above helps!! And if you require any further information please feel free to pm me,

Regards

Sharon

sharon@tmasspain.com

 

   

 

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Thank you very much Sharon that is really helpful.May well PM you later.

Best wishes

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

The mortage rates seem very varied in Spain, has anyone recently secured a good rate ?

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know