One of the most daunting aspects of buying a property overseas is your financial security. This does not have to be the case, we believe that before you can consider buying a new home, you need to have all the prices, payment terms, costs and taxation figures made clear to you.

With Eden you will receive all of this including explanations of contracts and the bank guarantees, which protect any money you pay. Also advice and introductions to the best banks and mortgage providers, who can advise you on the best mortgages and quote you some examples (currently a lot less than UK rates).

As deposits and payment terms can vary on different properties and circumstances, we will be happy to give you an exact breakdown of “how much and when” you would be required to pay on any property or new development you may be interested in.

You will have a choice of independent solicitors for all your questions and queries, which are extremely experienced in the property field and are used to dealing with English speaking clients. Our advice is that any client who buys a property in Spain needs legal representation, regardless of the reason for purchase (“Beware of anyone telling you different!”)
These solicitors will be happy to answer any questions you may have before you commit to purchasing any property, free of charge!

The whole process of purchasing a property in Spain can be very straight forward and problem free, as long as the procedures etc are explained to you, and you put yourselves in the hands of professional, trustworthy people, in the end the choice is yours.

Mortgage Checklist

About you

• A copy of your passport
• Your personal details, including your marital status, age, whether you have children
• Your last three salary payslips or proof of your pension income
• A copy of your last P60 (or equivalent tax confirmation from your country of origin)
• If you own your own company or you're self-employed, you'll need to supply copies of your tax returns and annual accounts for the last two years
• Your current job situation, your income, other investments, money owed.
• If you can provide a copy of a clean credit bureau history report (e.g. Experian) this may alleviate certain document requirements listed above. Please check with us for further details.
• Details of any other properties you own and whether you own them outright or they are mortgaged.

About the property

• Information on the property you are planning to buy
• Copy of the sales purchase contract
• Copy of the "Nota Simple" (Land Registry extract issued within last month).

Initially you can provide copies, or scanned documents, however it will be necessary for you to take and present the original documents to your branch in Spain prior to completion.

Costs to Consider

There are a number of additional mortgage costs involved, including taxes and stamp duty. These vary according to the type of property and region.

Once you know what you're buying and where, we could help you budget more accurately for these. In our experience, as a rule of thumb you should allow for an extra 10-12% on top of the purchase price. Here are a few of the costs you'll need to allow for:

• New properties: VAT* of 7% plus the stamp duty of 0.5% of the declared price.
• Second hand properties:Transfer tax ("Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales", or ITP) - usually 6% or 7% plus tax on 'documented legal acts' ("Impuesto sobre Actos Jurídicos") of 0.5% - a fee charged for transferring the property to your name
• Notary fees :these are fixed by law and based on a sliding scale but vary according to the size of the plot and dwelling, and the purchase price
• Property register fee :fixed by law and based on a sliding scale
• Local tax on property sales: "plusvalía municipal" - according to law, this is paid by the seller although you must ensure that this is checked by your lawyer. It is possible for the tax to be charged directly to the property itself, so if this goes unpaid by the seller you may be left to foot the bill.