Want to remortgage my property and need advice

I have my existing mortgage with La Caixa but looking to remortgage and increase the mortgage and I need to know if there are any good deals on with banks at the moment as I am not keen on paying the excessive fees that banks expect you to pay when you remortgage. Thanks in advance

I am not expert and others will no doubt advise but my understanding is that it is nearly always prohibitively expensive to remortgage with a different bank.  This is because you will get notary and Property Registry fees to cancel the existing mortgage; plus notary and Property Registry fees on the new mortgage; plus AJD (stamp duty) on the full amount of the new mortgage - not just the increase - this varies from region to region but in Andalucia I believe it is 1% but 1% of the amount borrowed plus accumulated interest and other stuff so that it ends up at about 2% of the amount borrowed.  Then you can add on valuer's fees plus the new bank's gestor.  So, a shedload of money.

and don't forget opening and closing bank commission which could be 1% for new mortagge and 0.5% on old mortgage.

also not easy to get any form of equity release and especially if money is leaving Spain etc

very hard to get mortgages at all now unless you tick all the boxes and if you did you would probably not need a mortgage or re-mortgage!

But JEK is right the cost is extremely high and very few do it. It is just another example of inflexibility and Spanish procedure at work!

Becareful not to pay any initial fees to the cowboy mortgage brokers to process your application. Many ask for EUR500 and then just come back and say sorry can't get you a mortgage.

And, of course, if you're using a lawyer to advise you .......................................  €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

It is possible to remortgage in Spain (we're mortgage brokers) with very few costs, but it would be subject to a maximum loan to value of 60% and there would need to be a legitimate reason. Such a reason could be debt consolidation, divorce or even buying another property but any transaction will be highly scrutinised by the lender.

And in response to Faro, our fees are based solely on success. The only fees our clients pay before signing are valuation fees charged by lenders, not us.......

Coincidentally I've started blogging about my experience of remortgaging, message me for details, or read my only 2 posts so far, interesting one coming up today: http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/remortgage-refinance.aspx

Hi girlinspain,

As has already been mentioned changing your mortgage lender by way of re mortgage is a very costly exercise, at approx 5%. There are a couple of lenders who offer to pay some or all of the fees and these are to a max of 65% LTV or 60% LTV respectively. There is also the option of up to 5 years on Interest Only for the 60% deal.  If you are looking to re mortgage coupled  with equity release (and I know of no lender who will allow equity release for debt consolidation now) - for the 60% option - fees are applicable to the amount over and above the mortgage balance being transferred.

As well as re mortgage costs being high, low valuations compared to when a property was bought are the main bugbear when looking to change lender.

When your mortgage deal comes to an end, you may want to shop around for a new product. This is known as a remortgage. Doing nothing and staying with your current lender after the end of the agreed term of your Mortgage, say two or three years, will mean that you revert to the lenders Standard Variable Rate (SVR). If this rate is relatively attractive, you may not want to bother remortgaging. And if you have not built up much equity in your property, you may not be able to remortgage, as many lenders now insist on a minimum of 20%. But if you have a lot of equity in your property, you may well be able to remortgage onto a more attractive interest rate.

Halifax Spain had a good offer on remortgages recently. We went through the application process but were turned down despite having a very healthy income at the time. Deutschebank are also keen to take on remortgages so you could try them.

The Lloys International (nee Halifax) deal has steadily deteriorated over the last few years, with the differential being added getting higher and higher.

Right now, no-one really wants to lend unless it is cast iron lending.......

Banks are still willing to lend - it does depend on client profile, income vs debt etc. but another important factor is valuation and this is the main bug bear for people looking to remortgage by changing lender.

As I said, 'unless it is cast iron lending'.

We are getting cases turned down for the most trivial of reasons, including one who was rejected because the applicant was single.  Those that are lending are mostly doing 60% (with one notable exception) meaning that purchasers have to put down 40% plus costs, which many don't have.

As I said, 'unless it is cast iron lending'.

We are getting cases turned down for the most trivial of reasons, including one who was rejected because the applicant was single.  Those that are lending are mostly doing 60% (with one notable exception) meaning that purchasers have to put down 40% plus costs, which many don't have.