Are Spanish Banks stealing Estate Agents clients

Why would a Bank want to take an agents client

Sales of property in Spain appear to be recovering but the default situation in Spain on existing loans continues to grow. Spanish Banks are acquiring more and more properties via the courts each month and this trend is unlikely to change for the next couple of years.

Heavily focused on selling their own properties Spanish Banks are incentivizing their staff to sell properties from their own portfolio and are not incentivizing them to add new mortgage loans for the purchase of independent properties.

This trend has meant that often when clients either approach Banks direct for a Spanish mortgage or they are directed by their estate agent to a Bank to apply for a loan the staff are just hell bent on trying to sell them one of their own properties rather than dealing with the request for a mortgage.

Even if the Bank in Spain starts to process a requested loan there is often no level of urgency, the client is not chased for presentation of documentation, and often when documentation is sent if something is missing the client is not informed until they themselves call the Bank to check on progress.

Estate agents often find themselves cut out of the loop and unable to find out about progress on the mortgage application or be given any idea of timescales.

How can the situation be avoided

An efficient and service friendly way for estate agents to avoid this situation can be to direct clients to an independent and professional mortgage broker who sits in between the client and direct contact with the Bank.

Not only does this avoid the client being bombarded with Bank owned stock opportunities that may provide little value for money, ensures the applicant gets professional and independent advice but it also means the application is dealt with efficiently, quickly with high levels of communication to all involved parties.

How do brokers work 

A broker like IMS will have high levels of ability to manage Spanish mortgage applications both by way of encouraging the client to deliver the documents requested, and by applying pressure on the Banks to process the application quickly and effectively. At IMS we provide all involved parties with automatic and pro-active communication making the whole process as painless and seamless as is possible in the current difficult market conditions.

At IMS we provide a pre-qualification service for no cost, along with a free and no obligation full financial approval service so clients can come to Spain ready to buy with all their finances in place.

We have been operating in Spain since 2002 and have placed over € 500 million of lending with the Spanish Banks.