What you can borrow, and what it costs
A Spanish bank will lend against the house you are buying, on terms that are not the ones you are used to at home. Here is what to expect before you talk to one — and who arranges it for you when you do.
A mortgage from a Spanish bank
Three numbers decide it
Spanish lending is conservative and it is slower than most buyers expect. None of that is a problem if you plan for it. It is only a problem if you find out three weeks before the notary.
01
How much they lend
Against a Spanish valuation, not against the price you agreed. For a non-resident buyer the usual ceiling is 60 to 70 % of whichever is lower. Plan on finding 30 to 40 % yourself, plus the taxes and fees on top.
02
What they count as affordable
Every debt you carry anywhere in the world, measured against your net income. Most banks want the total to stay around a third of it. A mortgage at home counts against you here.
03
How long it takes
Eight to twelve weeks from application to signing, and the valuation sits in the middle of that. Agree the timetable with the seller before you sign anything with a deadline in it.
Indicative, and they move. Rates, ceilings and appetite differ by bank, by nationality and by what your file looks like — a broker who places these every week will get you a real answer in days. The taxes and fees on top of the price are set out on Costs and taxes.
If the house is not finished
A mortgage and a building loan are not the same conversation
Banks lend comfortably against a finished house they can value and sell. They lend slowly, or not at all, against a building site. If you are buying a home as it stands and doing the work yourself, the purchase and the work are usually funded separately — and the second part rarely comes from a high-street bank.
That is what Homebase Finance exists for: completion and bridge capital through private funding partners, secured on the property, for the months between as it stands and finished. If your purchase has a project attached, start there rather than at a bank.
Who arranges it
We do not lend to buyers. We know who does
Mortgage brokers, lawyers and valuers who work with international buyers in Mallorca every week, and who will tell you what is realistic before you make an offer rather than after.
They are part of the Homebase network. We introduce you, they quote you, and you deal with them directly — we take nothing from the arrangement and we are not in the middle of it.
Tell us what you are buying
Send us the home and roughly what you plan to put in yourself. We will tell you whether a Spanish mortgage is the right route, and put you in front of the person who can price it.