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Spanish Mortgage Brokers.
When buying your dream home in Spain be sure to use a reputable firm of Spanish Mortgage Brokers to preventthat dream turning into a nightmare. Negotiating The Spanish Mortgage Minefield. So you have finally decided to buy your dream home in Spain. Congratulations, you will join the rest of us who are enjoying a great investment.
Or maybe you have decided upon an interesting off-plan investment with a view to reselling and cashing in prior to project completion? Whatever your motive to buy your property in Spain, one thing is for sure: you will need to shop around for the best mortgage for your particular needs. With interest rates in Spain lower than those in the UK and a favourable Euro exchange rate, property in Spain has long been a very tempting option for many an investor. So perhaps you will be seeking a helping hand from a reputable mortgage adviser in Spain - after all, they should save you endless time and hassle. One misconception continues to catch out many an investor as long as they assume that all Spanish mortgage brokers are qualified and trustworthy professionals. Watch out for: - The one-man-band who has no qualifications, experience or professional indemnity. These are sadly rife in Spain and operate legally, so do check who you are dealing with. They are not regulated by any organisation comparable to the British FSA and often operate from home, and have often simply dropped out of the British system. - The estate agent’s preferred mortgage advisor who is likely to be far from independent, being funded or partly owned by the real estate company. The agent often won’t care if the Spanish mortgage broker behaves unethically as the chief aim here can often be to sell the property and pocket the commission. - Broker fees. They are a standard 1% to the purchaser and the bank also pays a further 1% to the broker. Therefore a hefty fee for a few days of work makes the odd oversight a tempting option for many an unscrupulous broker. There are horror stories of fraudulent paperwork and hidden charges that are enough to make you double and triple check the broker’s credentials before entering into business. Identifying your good Spanish mortgage broker Choose only mortgage advisers that are Spanish S.L. companies or those that have reputable subsidiaries in the UK who working to UK standards. It is your right to ask to see all professional qualifications and indemnity certificates. The broker’s years of experience in Spain are important for many reasons:- Any broker will need to have established close relationships with the lenders. He/she will need to supply you with all the information you require in a language you understand, namely English. As you will have to get a bank account with a bank you may not know in Spain, you may need the broker’s pulling power and personal relationship, not to speak of familiarity with terms and conditions in Spanish, to help grant you the loan. What is more, the Spanish mortgage broker will need to help you avoid the horror story of a property not being registered or licensed and technically not actually “existing”. All good brokers will solve such problems and help you with the finer details of the Spanish regulations. Different laws apply in Spain Unlike back home, Spanish law tends to protect the vendor rather than the purchaser. This should be remembered when a date has been set for completion and you have already paid your deposit of between 10 to 30%. The deposit can be “lost” if, for any reason, you are unable to complete on the date and it could result in you losing the property in addition to the deposit paid. Therefore you will need to develop a tremendous amount of trust in the competency of your chosen broker as well as in the lawyers involved. Mortgage products differ Finally, you will need to familiarize yourself with the various options on offer in Spain, including the increasingly popular interest-free mortgage. Your friendly, professional mortgage advisor will help you in making that all-important decision. Spanish Mortgage Brokers-Article by Tina Landlaw of www.thewebwriter.bogspot.com Keep up to date with all the news and information from the Costa del Sol and Andalucia, Subscribe to our FREE E-Zine"Andalucia Life"
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