Best mortgage deal ?

Hi all,

Presently organising a mortgage for our place and before we make our decision we'd like to hear from those of you who have got a really good deal on theirs and who you got it from.

Factors like opening commission, interest rates, % they will lend etc,etc.. are so variable from bank to bank.

Any info, public or private message would be most helpful.

Regards,

Ken & Elaine

Hi

Did you get any response to your message?  We are in the same boat at the moment!  We have contacted Banco Halifax and also a broker called Easy Mortgages.  I must say we are getting a bit lost with all the charges!  Banco Halifax appear to be offering 4.9% interest only, over 15 years, with 1% loan arrangement fee.  We are still awaiting for the information from Easy Mortgages!

Have you had anything better.

D

 

 

Regarding mortgages. We completed yesterday, and used SolBank in CaboRoig. I am a Mortgage Broker/IFA in the UK, but used them direct. The rate we got is Fixed (1 year at a time), was 5.10%. I probably could have got cheaper, but service I got was excellent. They are a Bank that is designed for the "English". They communicated all the way alomg the process.

They and the solicitor we used at the Notary yesterday were superb. If you need their details let me know.

Hi Stokes family you can get EURIBOR plus 0.75% (current pay rate 4.54%) if you want conventional repayment product at up to 80% of value - restricted to 90% of purchase contract price.

Rgds Smiley

Sorry should have mentioned you can get 1 year interest only with that if you want it.

Overall purchase expenses should come to about 12% of purchase price of property. Mortgage Deed stamp duty, bank arrangement fees, Notary fees etc.

Rgds

Hi All

We completed at the Notary on 16 November with a mortgage with la Caixa. Essentially they are a savings bank and they invest their profits in social, educational,scientific and cultural projects through the "la Caixa" Foundation. As a mortgage broker in the UK I did a little shopping around. We got an interest rate of 4.9% fixed for 6 months, linked to the Euribor at a loan to valuation of 76% and on a straight repayment basis. The arrangement fee originally quoted was 1% but negotiated down to 0.75%. There was an option of 3 years inerest only. Importantly there are no early repayment penalties and no compulsory life assurance. The branch my son and I used was at the end of the Cabo Roig strip where it becomes Campoamar on the southern Costa Blanca. Must say been very impressed thus far. They also offer Sterling accounts which means that you can deposit a sterling cheque into your account which can then be converted to Euros. If anyone would like their contact details please get in touch      

Hi everyone

We are nearing completion on our apartment and now looking for a good mortgage deal or a recommended broker. We purchased the apartment through MRI and on their recommendation Capital Financial Partners Worldwide have been in touch with us. Has anybody had any dealings with this company or know anything about them as they require you to take out a membership costing 495euros into their mortgage club. This entitles you to a mortgage, financial advisor, bank a/c, mortgage reviews and updates, insurance reviews etc.... 

Has anyone else paid this sort of money to get help with their mortgage, sounds a lot of money to us.

We have started trawling through internet looking for other bank and mortgage companies and will look at ones that have been mentioned here.

Any help or advise greatly appreciated

June

 

Hi everyone

can anyone tell me what 'subrogation' is, my son needs to remortgage as he one year interest only comes to an end in April.  Someone told me that subrogation would be cheaper than remortgaging, from what i can remember it means that a new bank just takes over your mortgage rather than starting from scratch again.  Does anyone know any more info. on this?  My sons circumstances have changed since he got his first mortgage and now will find it hard to start from scratch, with a subrogation would they need all the financial checks etc. again?  Also has anyone approached their bank that they are already with and tried to re negociate more years at interest only?  He is with UCI at the moment and expects his payments to go up from 625 to nearly 1200 a month, any help greatly appreciated

Thanks

Locins,

Be wary of paying anything up front as any mortgage broker worth his salt will charge nothing until completion. Search around and speak with Smiley from this forum!

Hi Janis subrogation means transfer. All he would be doing is transferring the existing mortgage terms to a new lender - cant even understand why anyone would suggest this as being a viable option. Doesnt do him any favours at all. The existing lender would charge an early cancellation fee anyway and he would still end up on a capital repayment plan. This is one of the reasons I say to people they need to consider long and hard before completing on any mortgage in Spain to ensure it meets long term requirements. So often lenders tell you one thing - "come back and ask us for an extended period of interest only after the first year" - only to find they will not do it. A mortgage deed here is written in stone (metaphorically of course). Thus once it has been registered at the Notary the terms cannot be changed without writing a completely new deed. One of the warnings we give to a prospective client is that remortgage here is horrendously expensive - typical costs are in the region of 5 to 6% - it is also complex and not straightforward like it is in the UK. Thus make sure the mortgage not only suits today but also suits tomorrow!!!! I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THAT ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!

UCI would never for us be lender of first choice - possibly about 15th after many different avenues but it might be your son had problems proving all his income and there are "brokers" in Spain who will produce documentation for clients in support of a mortgage application that allegedly it is more easy to get past some lenders as checks are not as thorough. If he does want to move to a different lender he will still be required to provide documents supporting income but as I say I cannot see the particular benefit unless the mortgage required is within 60% of property valuation - then it might be feasible to do something.

Thanks Smiley, he would need to borrow 183,000 and the property is worth around 265,000 - 270,000.  He has now contacted Orange Finance who say they might be able to help on a 60% mortgage with no proof of income.  Have you heard of them?  Thanks for taking the trouble to answer

I know Orange Finance - I believe used to be The Loan Centre and reinvented after having to close down 2 years ago. Product they are talking about is expensive at 2% above Euribor - opening commission at 1.5 to 2% of mortgage advance. 30 years interest only - 1% redemption penalty for the life of the loan but can repay up to 10% of capital balance every year. No proof of income required but will not lend to clients with more than £10,000 of unsecured (loans, credit cards) UK debts. To get 183k property will have to value at least 305,000. Is 183k the outstanding balance or does that incorporate the costs he will incur as well by moving?  

183 is the outstanding balance, he really needs to do something as he is going off to travel round Australia and needs to get it sorted.  He is only 24 and i wish he had never brought the place but he has and it doesnt look like a sellers market at the moment

Hi Janis by my rough calculations he is going to need roughly 11,000€ to cover remortgage expenses - more or less - this will take the loan up to 194,000 - property will need to value at approx 325,000€ to get the deal they are talking about

Hi Smiley

How do we or the banks calculate the current value of our place. We bought it off plan over 3 years ago. Its still not ready yet. The price we paid is a good bit lower than what the developer is selling their remaining apartments at, although there are resales going for about €50k lower than the developers.

Westport

HI Westport its Smiley on the wifes machine. The bank valuation companies have a formula of cost per square metre to build in a specific area that they are supposed to follow so it depends where you have bought. Views and aspect are considered a positive, construction next to a tyre factory would be deemed a negative - however not so much as you might think. They take into consideration price comparisons of recent transactions in the area but simply because a developer is selling for 50k more wont affect their assessment. Would that it was purely as simple as that. The official bank valuation companies also take different views (this is Spain where opinion counts) because they can produce wildly different figures - I have recently had a property valued for a client that was 40,000€ different to an identical apartment that had been valued by a different valuer - there are some that take a more casual approach to a valuation than others and certain banks insist on certain valuers - generally we have a pretty good success rate with the valuers used if a valuation needs to be appealed for any reason. Direct communication with the Director of a valuation company often results in a more favourable figure as long as we can present a constructive argument.

Things such as a Smallbone of Devizes kitchen for 100,000 would not particularly impact a valuation figure unlike the UK where it would have a siginificant impact - same with other home improvements so be careful how you spend any money in the future.

Complicated but I hope that answers your question.

Hi Smiley,

Just wanted to reply to your email dtd 8th Feb re Interest Only product!  I agree with all you said however, Loans, credit cards, UK debt are not declarable nor counted EXCEPT exsiting mortgages and this will be checked.   This has been the case for several months now.

Regards

sharon@tmasspain.com

 

 

Thanks for the info Sharon - appreciated. Tendency not to use it as we have other better options as it is such an expensive product. In itself I guess it is ok but always likely to be quite a long way down our pecking order on the basis of LTV and rates and opening commission.

Rgds

I understood from this forum that it was illegal for a developer to charge the purchaser for the cancelation of their mortgage. On this basis I sent the message below to my lawyer (Lex Marbella)

  I am advised that the charge by the developer for not taking over their mortgage on the property in Spain is not legal. Other residents of Don Juan have already challenged this charge through their lawyers and the developers have agreed not to make this charge. Please deal with this issue with Arrohabitage for us as we are not prepared to pay for the discharge of their mortgage on the property.

Their reply: I am afraid; this is one of the conditions of the contract with the developer. The cost of this will be approximately between 700 – 800 €

What do I do next?

Dave,

I WAS a client of Lex Marbella who appeared in many respects to be very professional UNTIL after 2 1/2 years of dealing with them I discovered that they had failed to obtain Bank Guarantees for any of their clients on our development!! over 20 of their clients were left very vulnerable and all they said was SORRY!!!!!!

I agree with you that you should be able to go for an independant mortgage without penalty? You will however incurr additional costs of around 3.5% in extra commissions  by going to an independant Spanish lender but the repayment terms may well be better?  You should push Lex to do their job and inform their developer of the law in Spain relating to contracted mortgage packages. Its the same old story really.............For instance, Viva Estates work VERY closely with Lex Marbella and no doubt the developer too?

Hi Mike

I instructed Lex to take this up with the developer and they have now agreed to do so.

 I agree the relationships between them VIVA and developers are very cosy. They ALL make money out of us and are loath to take issue with each other on our behalf.

I am aware of the extra costs of taking out new mortgage but wasn't planning to take a mortgage at all.

 

You cannot be charged for something you don't need!!

Part of the contract package with many off plan projects is to provide a "mortgage service" to tie in the deal on completion of the development. In most cases the terms are not always the most favourable and the loan is NOT guaranteed anyway has you would I have no doubt had to prove your ability to meet the repayments from your UK net income!

 Keep on top of the Raul's and Manuel's at Lex, like most of them their they do react when you constantly press them! I would also request that they send you copies of all contact with the developer relating to this issue has they have a habit of using their mobiles rather than the written word.........

Hi,

Have read with interest the thread on paying builders cancellation of mortgage. Both we and our slolicitor challenged this on breakdown figures. However the Halifax would on no account back down on the matter, but kept assuring that it would be refunded into our account. I have emails printed with this stated from them. I did ask my solicitor to agree to this providing they would put a clause in the contract to ensure the payment would be refunded. Halifax refused to do this, insisting it would be done in due course. i instructed my solicitor to go ahead with completion as there was no way the Halifax were going to back down. I will keep you posted of the outcome.

 

Gina

HI Dave as Mike says be assertive with Lex - you cannot be forced to take something you neither need nor want under Spanish Law. At the end of the day you are paying them a fee to represent your interests not the developer and if they will not do so tell them that you will take it up with the College of Lawyers. Hopefully they will start doing their job properly and representing you with integrity.

Now look here Patrick................

I'm pleased to see you are agreeing with me Pat but why do you always have to express yourself more (eleqently) than me? If only I'd stayed on at school till I was 12!!

Another confession "I wus born in Oldham" it cud have happened to anyone yer now...............................

Hola Hombre do you mean elegantly or eloquently? Either way you shpellt it rong? Must be coz I am a poofy southerner alongside you hard as nails northerners. Perhaps my expensive education that my parents worked so hard for that culminated with a Grade A English A Level - then I gave them 2 fingers and refused to go to university - hah that told them!

Nice one Pat.

By the way "What's an A level" ? I've never seen one in any lift I've been in!!

I´m hunting around for the best mortgage deal at the moment.

I have seen ING who offer Euribor + 0.33%.  No opening commission to pay and I can pay off capital for free too.  They will lend me up to 90% of the value of the property.

Sounds streets ahead of all the others. 

So what´s the catch???????

Hi njg1225,

No catches, BUT this mortgage is only available to residents of Spain, i.e. live and work in Spain.  

Regards

Sharon

 

Thanks Sharon

No catch seems too good to be true!

I´ll give them a call this week.

Anne

PS - Probably ought to explain that I have somehow managed to register myself twice on this forum (don´t ask!). So the OP is my alter ego!

This message was last edited by jerezgirl on 2/26/2007.