The level of Euribor rates which has been at a historical low for many months is predicted to rise by about 1% over the next year. It was unrealistic to believe the rates could remain as low as they have been and increases should be gradual.

In itself, a 1% rise may not cause existing borrowers or new borrowers too many problems increasing payments by € 50 per month for every 100k borrowed on a 20-year repayment loan. Given however the fragility of the Spanish Economy and the high existing rate of defaults the Spanish Banks are experiencing it must be hoped that increases do not exceed the anticipated 1% increase and that Euribor base rates then level out at around 2.40% rather than continue to climb.

Given the trend is however for rate rises when looking for a loan considering a fixed rate above current variables could be a good option to hedge against where rates will finally peak.

Euribor Rates on the Rise for Spanish Mortgages is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

At present there still remains a few differences between the two in lending criteria.

Lloyds minimum loan size is € 100k whereas Halifax is € 50k. Lloyds only offer 12-month Euribor trackers whereas Halifax offer 1 month and 12 month.

Debt to income ratios are 50% at Lloyds but they use an inflated interest rate of 5% to calculate this and Halifax is 35% using the current rates of around 2.5%.

For any clients with applications currently being processed by Halifax their broker or the client themselves should push for an offer quickly to make sure their terms are honoured as it would seem far more likely criteria will moved totally to the Lloyds current stance rather than an adaptation of the two.

Given the banking groups appetite to lend in Spain for the foreseeable future is very low it is unlikely criteria will be relaxed to meet the more accessible Halifax current risk profile.

Lloyds and Halifax Spain complete merger is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

By far the best of their new products is 5-year fix at 3.20%.

With current variable rates averaging around 2.5% to 2.75% but with Euribors now increasing slightly each month; and a market view that without doubt in the next 18 months the ECB base rate and Euribors will increase steadily; this would seem to be fantastic value for money over a 5 year period and a good low rate hedge against rate increases. After the fixed rate period the variable rate will be 0.49% above Euribor; with most banks currently charging between 1.25% to 2% above Euribor this a very low and unlikely to be beaten in the longer term.

The bank has also raised loan to values to 65% making it only one of two banks above 60%.

Interest only up to two years on a case-by-case basis can be made available although the banks strong preference is a repayment mortgage and it is more likely to be approved on a repayment basis.

Minimum valuation of property must be 170k and debt to income ratios cannot exceed 30% but for clients who qualify this market-leading product provides good value in an otherwise difficult market.

For further information contact us

Improving Terms For Non Resident Spanish Mortgages is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

Many Expats working places like the Middle East or Africa see Spain as an ideal half way house for vacations and a final place to settle when current contracts or early retirement beckons.

It is easy to see why many people who have lived for years as Expats find it difficult to accept when returning to Western Europe cold and pricey UK and look for a more amenable alternative to return to.

Spain with its great climate, beaches, fantastic countryside and a more laid back way of life with all the amenities and infrastructure expected from a civilized country provides an ideal base.

Not too far away from family back in UK but different enough to make the move from United Arab Emirates or Africa not quite as stark as being thrown back into the UK way of living.

Because many Expats have long-term financial plans in place; often whilst timing for finding and buying that ideal Spanish home is excellent they may require in the shorter term funding to bring purchase decisions forward. Because most of the countries Expats work in are tax-free often Expats find banks in Spain difficult to work with or obtain lending from as they cannot provide the normal standard documents required.

IMS have many years experience in handling this type of application, know all the banks that will provide loans to Expats and have all the up to date information required to ensure the best possible overall terms tailored to meet the clients objectives are explained and sourced.

Spanish Mortgages For Expats is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

Last year they state they completed on 700 mortgages! This is an astonishing amount of business. If each loan was an average of 150k and they earned 0.50% from the lender “Dominion Credit” this would have brought in an income of € 750k . Not bad for a two-person business giving as a pro rata cost against income BP a run for its money.

If I had a company as successful as they have pertained to be the last thing I would do in current environment is completely change my name. It is a conundrum as usually only companies who have damaged their brand by poor service or failure feel the need to change their name.

The new website called “Ubiquitous Mortgages” is pretty much a rewrite of the old website however, the spot the ball competition at € 25 an entry no longer exists under the new brand.

The old saying if it seems to good to be true does not apparently apply or does it!!!!

See latest feedback on Low Rate Spanish Mortgages below .
The comments from Clive Ballard are posted below.

As you say, Dominion Credit and Finance website is new, The name was only registered Jan/Feb 2009. Low Rate Spanish Mortgages were advertising the Yen mortgages in Oct 2008. The DC&F website, like the LRSM website is not very professional for the nature of what it is supposed to sell, and the office in Singapore is not an office but only a phone answering service. Like yourself I could not find any references to Henry Braithwaite in the banking world. I phoned/e-mailed him on a number of occasions in March 2009 requesting information on agents, other than LRSM for these mortgages.
I got no responce to the messages left.
Since DC&F were not contactable, and had no website until Jan 2009, I wonder how LRSM were able to offer their mortgages in Oct 2008, and purchased the domain name in May 2008.

Low Rate Spanish Mortgages charge a non refundable, 500 € to apply for a Yen mortgage.
I applied for a mortgage from them in Jan 2009, when there office was in Valencier. Approximatly 6 weeks later when I chased the mortgage, they had apparently moved to Bilbao, though were working through a UK phone answering service. When they rang back, I was told the morgage was not granted, due to the financial situation, but if I liked to apply again in 3 months (and pay another 500€) the situation might have changed.
It seems to me that the only ones making money out of this, are “Low Rate Spanish Mortgages”, a 1/2 man run business who as well as running lotteries*, also run a dating site under their other company name of Marverose S.L
They also have interests in an Estate Agents (wherepropertysells.com), though I think this may now, have closed.
N.B. The original UK company named Dominion Credit and Finance went bust in the 1990′ies.

*IMS would like to state there is no evidence that Mark Foreman runs lotteries which would which under the gaming act would be a criminal offence. A lottery has very different regulations to a competition.
Brian McKenzie says:
January 25, 2010 at 12:17 pm

Hi.
Similar story as clive only this time they said the mortgage was not approved because the valuation was wrong,which made no sense as no valuation had been made on the property. This email stating the above information was sent to me only after repeated attempts to contact them and also they said that they had sent me an email stating this a month previous which was total rubbish. Further attempts to contact them to clarify this has been ignored. I am now quite sure after reading Clives letter that I have been well and truly scamed..
B.Mckenzie

G F Crudgington says:
February 22, 2010 at 4:46 pm

Like Bryan & Clive I have also had similar experience with Low Rate Spanish Mortgages and paid £228 for survey only to find that the survey was never done and the mortgage was refused on the basis of an “In House Valuation” made by a company Dominion Credit and Finance located in Singapore, thousand of miles away from my property in France and that the loan was below the Dominion Credit and Finance funding level. Communications have not been good. I doubt whether they will refund the money paid for a survey which was never carried out. I had hope that it was all above board but I am now convinced that it is a scam and it is highly unlikely that I will get the survey fee back.

Matt Onel says:
June 5, 2010 at 1:30 am

I was approached by ubiquitous mortgages and offered a multi currency mortgage for property in Turkey. They want me to pay the in-house valuation fee upfront as well.
These people have no idea how the buying process works in Turkey as UK nationals require to go through a military clearance process which usually takes about 3 months before a property can be registered in their name (and therefore be mortgageable!).
Also, if the property is ‘valued’ on a desktop from Singapore how can they be sure of the risk factor for the lender’s / underwriter’s capital is tied to? in other words, how do they know the property is really worth the amount of credit they’re offering?
This all sounds a bit too suspicious in the way that they gave me an agreement in principle within hours.

Is there anyone out there who actually DID receive their mortgage through Dominion in Singapore? Can anyone please come forward and do us AND Dominion a huge favour and testify?

However we have received this positive comment from a Mrs Barbara Gosling in Mexico

I read your warning with interest!

While I cannot comment on Clive’s own application, all I can say is that I found the service provided by LRSM to be of an extremely high standard. Indeed, thanks to them I am happily residing in my new property soaking up the sun.

Low Rate Spanish Mortgages Changes Name is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

Bancaja who reduced loan to values to 60% at end of last year and removed interest only have in recent days said that they can consider on a case-by-case basis up to 65% loan to value for non-residents. This relaxation is possibly in response to a collapse of their non-resident applications and reverses a trend for them of increasingly tightening criteria’s.

Deutsche bank also announced last week that they have relaxed their criteria from 50% loan to value to 60% for non-residents.

Sol Bank conversely have; whilst keeping their 70% option; increased rates. They have incorporated a first year rate of 2.75% followed by Euribor plus 1.15% this is up from the previous 0.95% above Euribor with no first year rate incorporated.

It remains the case with all the banks with the exception of Lloyds/Halifax that life insurance is being insisted on. All Spanish banks need to cross sell other products to prop up incomes and profitability and whilst it is not legal to insist on other products are now digging in their heels whenever approving a loan. Most Spanish Banks have no access to wholesale funds to provide loans so are very reliant on lending the deposits they have and profit from other income streams.  It is also still the case that even where funds come from wholesale markets the price the banks have to pay for this money and the rates they can charge leave little actual short-term profit on lending.

More and more banks are starting to offer special mortgage terms for clients buying bank stock although promotion of this remains poor except where banks are promoting the offers to Spanish Nationals.

The trend for Euribor rates last month was upward and whilst these increases are very very small we seem to have hit the bottom on the Euribors with the trend of downward movement at the very least stalling. This does not mean we will see big increases in the various Euribor rates but small and steady increase across the board during the next few months.

All in all the news is a mixed bag with some positives and some negatives. I suspect this trend will continue as each bank assesses their own current market position and balance sheet strength with no clear consensus amongst banks as to the overall way the market is moving.

A Review Of Spanish Mortgage Lending May 2010 is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

As the year progresses more of these type of offers will come to the table. Every bank in Spain is now considering how to most effectively reduce the level of unsold stock they hold and are developing bespoke and attractive mortgage terms to encourage buyers and to provide access to buyers who have limited deposits and would normally be precluded from buying in Span due to lack of capital.

All banks will still require that clients fit their designated criteria on incomes and are able to provide evidence of this but the banks will take a more flexible approach to risk assessment where the client is committed to buying one of the banks own properties and in many cases will provide up to 100% of purchase on a loan.

Under Your Spanish Mortgage brand IMS will provide a transparent and cost effective service which includes securing of the property and all mortgage related work and will continue to work with the banks to develop and find further interesting and lucrative mortgage deals attached to good value and fully legal new developments.

Using long established relationships IMS are working hard to ensure that these types of deals; readily available and accessible to residents of Spain; are also provided to non residents and will update their portfolio on a regular basis.

100% Spanish Mortgages Now Available! is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

Because money was flowing into Spain tax authorities rarely questioned transactions where clearly the property price being seen as being paid was very low in comparison to either the formal valuation of the property, the minimum amount registered as value at Town Halls or the mortgage level.

How times have changed. Black money transactions have now disappeared from the Spanish system. The arrest and imprisonment of a number of Notaries and lawyers put paid to individuals involved in the transactions being willing to knowingly allow it to happen and it is now accepted by all that it is fact breaking the law not just something that is an accepted practice within Spain.

In 2 years, I have seen no completions where black money has even been suggested as part of the transaction. It just does not happen any more.

How perverse therefore it is that the tax authorities within the regional governments who are desperate for cash are now questioning perfectly legitimate transactions where buyers have bought and paid a price that reflects the current depressed property market or are achieving big discounts on asking price because owners are desperate to sell.

The authorities are now investigating closely all property transactions; as they have little else to do; taking the Town Hall value ( Catastral value) multiplying this by up to 2.5 times and then if you buy at a level below this sending out tax bills for the difference between the tax correctly paid on the actual purchase price and the value the regional government are stating you must have made.

It is almost impossible for you to prove you did in fact pay the amount you signed for at Notary and that no black money transaction took place and as with all tax authorities they can state what ever they believe to be true and apply a further taxation at will. Failure to pay the extra cash they are demanding will result in an embargo being placed on the property.

It is almost beyond belief that in an environment where everyone knows bargains are available and property prices have fallen so heavily and in an environment where Spain needs to kick start its tourist and property industry that regional governments who have very local agendas rather than national ones are using such tactics to fill their coffers.

In the days when they could have legitimately pursued individuals where blatant black money transactions happened on a regular basis they chose not to. Now this does not happen and the reason for the low purchase price is because that is how much is being paid for the property they are insisting that you in fact paid more The tax authorities at regional levels are now telling buyers what the purchase was in “their view” and therefore how much tax you owe.

It is important before you complete on a property in Spain you ask your lawyer to check the minimum Town Hall value apply the 2.5 times increase and then check what you are actually paying does not fall below this amount and if it does that the Lawyer makes you aware of what the tax authorities could say after completion you owe even though in fact you legitimately owe nothing.

Please get a grip Spain! you are ruining your own country. Lack of transparency, government departments who do as they please with no ability for you to argue they are wrong will eventually scare any buyers off and take Spain back to a third world economy.

Buyers before you complete on that great bargain take as many steps as you can to ensure a nasty tax bill is not going to hit you a few months down the line.

It is about time Europe stepped in let us hope someone finally challenges these practice via the European courts and the tax authorities get told to refund the tax they have illegally taken.

Beware Of Hidden Taxes When Buying Bargain Property In Spain is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

• 80% of valuation or purchase price whichever is lower
• 0% opening fee
• 0% redemption penalty for first 3 years
• Rates from 1.72%

No monthly payments for first 3 years

No interest rolled up

Terms up to 50 years to age 80

In order to qualify for the loan a property must be bought from the banks direct stock.

More information on property can be found at Your Spanish Mortgage.

Further information available from heather@imsmortgages.com

Details of an example property is shown below

Loan
0 € for 3 years.

Type: Studio or Apartment

• Location: Mijas (Malaga)
• Address: Urbanización Playa Lucera, A-32
• Postal Code: 29650
• Area: 158
• Bedrooms: 2
• Bathrooms: 2

General Characteristics

• 158 m² penthouse in Mijas 20 km from Marbella and 14 kilometers from Fuengirola.
• It is distributed in living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
• The common area has a pool and landscaped garden.
• It is located 20 meters from the sea, beachfront, located in a quiet urbanization.
• TL4 Property Reference:
• This housing is included in the Housing Bancaja Commitment 2010. Buy your home now and pay nothing to Bancaja for your mortgage for 3 years!.

Get A Mortgage In Spain With Nothing To Pay For 3 Years! is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions

Bank stock now provides probably the widest and most cost effectively priced property you can find.

Many properties are very much resident style property being in major Cities or areas within coastal regions that are not suitable for holiday homes but if you look hard enough a few gems are around.

Considering bank owned stock before buying is good for clients for two key reasons. The first being the price per square meter you can achieve and secondly because despite tight criterias on finance for non residents of Spain each bank is far more flexible on underwriting and loan to values where the client is buying one of the banks own stock.

There is no hard fast rules each case is taken on an individual basis and individual merit but getting up to 100% Spanish mortgages for right profile client is possible.

In most peoples book this activity is a form of blackmail “buy from us and you get a loan don’t buy from us and loan will be difficult and restricted”. It however works for both parties in the current environment and should not be ignored. Individual private sellers may have issues with it as selling a property in Spain at present is tough enough without the banks being your main competitor for the limited buyers available but until bank stock flows through the whole market will remain static. Perhaps it is just a pill we all have to swallow for the long term good.

If you are a buyer the ability to buy keenly priced property without parting with chunks of your own cash is now more of a reality again; as long as you source the property from the bank you are getting finance from.

Clients would be well advised to talk to brokers who can check up front what might be available if a client buys from the bank. The client then can make any offer to the bank secure in the knowledge the mortgage finance fits their budget and is available.

A good Spanish mortgage broker will be able to search the banks portfolio for you and provide details of possible purchases and then speak to the bank and get an agreement in principle for that property should you decide to proceed.

For more information contact us here.

Spanish Banks Desperate To Sell Their Growing Property is a post from: Spanish Mortgages Experts International Mortgage Solutions