Honest mortgage Broker anyone?

[durx]

Hi,
Anyone got a contact for an honest (if one exists) mortgage broker, i think mine is having a laugh with me. and i aint impressed.

cheers

[Robi]

mortgages

Do you really need a broker ? why not approach your bank? If you want to know cists etc there are many bank and other online sites will give you some idea.

[durx]

yeah i thought about that, i already have a mortgage with bankinter, but trying to sort this out from the UK is a pain.

plus i wanted someone to scope the best deals and do all the paper work..

phil

[Jess]

Have you tried Banco Halifax, they were ofering a fee free product if you wanted to swap your existing Spanish mortage to them. Dont know what the interest rate is or any further details though. You could try vivacostainternational.com they are a broker that deal with a number of mortage products and have Spanish and English offices.

[durx]

I think i'll contact the Halifax, might be worth a look.

Thanks.

Phil

[Robi]

I have several friends who found the Halifax a nightmare! Better bet is Barclays at least they are Spanish (they took over a Spanish bank) Halifax have a lot of old biddies who dont even speak Spanish and so dont understand the Spanish papers etc to get things arranged everything goes via Madrid and it takes ages! And if you start the process with Halifax in the UK it will take even longer and cost even more (UK branch take commission)

[durx]

i already have an offer of a mortgage from CajaMadrid, with great interest rates, but they are really crap at getting back to me and letting me know what they are doing with my money, so i'm unsure whether to continue with them.

Had a look at Barclays online last night, and their rates are a bit lower than halifax too.

i have about 6 weeks left complete, so i may have to end up sticking to CajaMadrid.

[Robi]

Yes the Spanish have a different style - they dont bombard you with letters and emails - try and speak to them and clarify where they are up to in the process.

[Steve]

Interesting post as I have today been speaking to (a) a bank manager and (b) a mortgage company about two different situations. It "seems" that perhaps the banks knee-jerked a few months ago when they REALLY tightened up on expat mortgages after a series of high-profile re-possessions, bogus applications etc and after 4/5 months things are now settling down.

If you have a standard application with legitimate supporting paperwork you can have the pick and choice of any bank, caja etc Just phone any branch, explain your situation and wait for an offer - they are KEEN to lend money at the moment to cleam applications. (Don't forget banks make their real money from lending money) Obviously easier if you jumped over here for a few days to do it face-2-face.

If you have a less clear situation or simply want somebody to sort out the best rates and offers I can recommend Marcel Palm at CasaHipoteca www.casahipoteca.com
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[Lorraine]

I know this may be too late now but for anyone else reading this thread and dealing from the UK I have found that the solicitors we used for the original house purchase have been a great help. We bought our house in Spain outright but now I have decided to take advantage of the lower rates in Europe and the low exchange rate and take a mortgage out on the spanish property and use the funds to repay the UK one. (You get roughly £14K more now for 100,000€ than you did a few months back. The good thing about dealing with the solicitor is that they already had copies of our ID and the title deeds so only needed payslip. I did look into using a broker but with no way of knowing if they were legit I was too worried about ID fraud to fax all our details to someone I didnt know.

[andywebb]

I read this thread with interest. Honest mortgage broker!

Next someone will ask about an honest car dealer or honest estate agent or, god forbid, an honest politician!

only joking - I find the Halifax ok I switched my account from BBVA to them last year and am pleased with the service - however i have not tried to get a mortgage through them