19 Oct 2007 12:50 PM:
Hi Carl,
Good to hear from you.
Our 1st purchase with OVP was at La Duquesa Golf, which is a developement of 3 bed townhouses on the Duquesa golf complex.
Originally arranged by OVP, we mortgaged through an agent ( not the builders bank, as originally planned), who arranged a mortgage with El Monte Bank in Spain. ( Now Cajasol bank) This was a repayment mortgage. Good rate of interest compared with UK rates. But being a repayment mortgage, was quite a high monthly outgoing, with few rentals coming in.
After a meeting with OVP, they put me in touch with Nat West Bank, here in UK, who in turn put me in touch with their Gibraltar office, who arranged a mortgage for me. It is an interest only mortgage, with a loan to value of 70%. I had to get the property valued. ( Value after 1 year of ownership was very pleasing --- whether I could actually sell it at the valuation rate is another matter)
The costs of re-mortaging was a bit of a shock though. The bank charged a high fee, as did the lawyers. Plus land registry fees again. All in all, I reckon the cost to change was around £12000. The bank's underwriting was very thorough. I had to produce 1 x full year UK bank statements, which they probed in depth.
I have since been contacted by Halifax, who are also financing Spanish properties, with supposed lower fees. It seems that the UK banks have seen a big opportunity overseas, and are producing products which fit the buy to let market better than the Spanish banks.
Hope this helps
Rgds
Dave
Community thread:
Mums and tots, Dads and tots, Friendship in Spain, lonely in Spain.
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