Sam Greenfield

Hi everyone

I could do with a bit of advice please.
We have been looking at a little rundown property about 15 minutes from Granada City we would love to buy - obviously we havent sold our house or are in a position to at the moment - so the big question is which would you suggest we are better off doing -
extending our mortgage on our house in England
getting an English mortgage
or getting a Spanish mortgage.

Thanks very much everyone - head spinning at the moment as i didnt think we would be able to do anything until next year till we'd sold up - i know this would be the best option but we may miss out on the house.
Love Sam

SoJohn

Hi,

I don't think you can get an English mortgage for a Spanish property.

I believe a Spanish mortgage depends on valuations. For example, if the house is being sold for more than a mortgage inspector things it's worth, they won't issue the full mortgage, only that what it's worth.

Also I'm guessing you only need to put a deposit down at the moment which should allow you time to work out how best to do it.

Hillybilly

Don't cripple yourselves with unnecessary mortgage repayments - I read that rates have increased yet again the UK. If the time isn't right, it isn't right, even if you think you've found the property of your dreams. Some houses remain on the market for years, so this one may still be for sale next year or, if not, you'll find another one when the timing is better for you. Don't get carried away is what I'm trying to say!

jeanc

we have borrowed against our property in uk. got a mortgage fixed for two years. was going to have a spanish mortgage, but what we the bit we would have saved in interest rates would have gone on fees sending the payment over to spain every month. Now if we had had enough money to sent say, 6 months payments at a time we may have opted for the spanish one.

SueG

Agree totally with Hillybilly. What is meant to be will be!! Don't forget the bank rate has also just gone up in England!

Lionda

Words of wisdom

jeanc

Is it not also rising in spain?

SoJohn

Interest rates stayed the same in Europe last week, I believe they are at 4% compared to 5.75% in the UK. Both are expected to rise by the end of the year but the Europe level won't get as high as the UK one. I don't think it will go above 4.5.

Sam Greenfield

Hi all - thanks for all your advice - as always greatfully recieved.
We are quite lucky here as we were lucky enough to buy at the right time so only have a relatively small mortgage and the house we are looking at over there wouldnt add that much if we extended our mortgage as its only a small one.
We were just wondering if its better having an English or Spanish mortgage.
Thanks again.
Love Sam

SoJohn

I'm fairly sure you can't have an English mortgage on a Spanish property. Maybe someone with more experience can confirm that.

Also the good/bad thing about a Spanish mortgage is the face they give what they feel it's worth. For example, if the house costs 50 000 and they value at 80 000, you can get the 80 000 mortgage on a 50 000 house, which can help with restoration. Again, maybe someone with more experience can confirm that.

Lionda

As far as I am aware you can't have an English mortgage on a Spanish property - but you can extend your English mortgage to fund your property (say it's for 'home improvements' NOT for buying a property in another country )

EsuriJohn

Hi Lionda,

I think we should be talking about Stirling or Euro mortgages not English or Spanish. You can get both in England or Spain. The choice really depends in what currency you are able to repay in. If your income is in Stirling then you should choose that for the mortgage in my opinion.

The easiest in my opinion is to extend the mortgage on your UK property and if your income is in UK you can repay without currency risk.

I agree you have to be careful what you declare you want to use the money for.

If you have lots of equity in your UK house you should have no trouble in finding a provider who will remortgage your property.

The advice not to overextend yourself is always correct and good.

The advantage of a mortgage secured against your house in Spain is that you can offst the interest against tax you pay in Spain but you can get this with both types of mortgage but not by extending your UK house mortgage.

Regards,

John.

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Big Pete

Hi Sam

I had a very similar predicament myself , and chose Spanish mortgage for 3 reasons.

1; Lowest rates ( generally always 1% lower than rip of britain)
2; Do 30 year periods makes it cheaper still.
3; Figured keeping it all in Spain makes sense as if my property in UK takes ages to sell , well you have a holiday home over there in the worst case.

jeanc

Our mortgage company knew it was for a property abroad, they're not bothered as long as you have equity in the property you are raising the funds against

jeanc

[3; Figured keeping it all in Spain makes sense as if my property in UK takes ages to sell , well you have a holiday home over there in the worst case.[/QUOTE]
we figured keeping it all in Uk made most sense to us as this is where we are gonna be for at least the next 5 years. If work becomes scarce as it did in the early 90's we'd only get one home reposessed and get to keep the one in the sun. May as well be skint there as here!!