Non-resident mortgage in Spain with an independent broker: fee only on success, no IVA
Most brokers in Spain and Portugal are paid by the lender. That decides, before anything else, which lenders you are shown. Here it works the other way round, and this page sets out what follows from it — including the licence details you can verify without asking us.
Who pays the broker fee on a non-resident mortgage in Spain?
For a non-resident mortgage in Spain, the broker's fee comes from you, not the bank. It is payable only on success, with no advance payment and no IVA. Because the fee comes from the client, lenders that pay no commission can be approached too, so the comparison is not limited to banks that pay a broker.
Why does the fee model decide which lenders you get to see?
The fee is paid by you only on success, with no advance payment and no IVA. Because the fee comes from the client, lenders that pay no commission can be approached too.
Up to 70 % in Spain, up to 80 % in Portugal: Plan for 30–40 % equity plus 10–13 % purchase costs, which no lender finances. Costs of buying in Spain.
Independent brokerage under § 34i, fee only on success: Register number D-W-132-ZUCB-95. What we charge.
What do you need: NIE and proof of income, and do German applicants usually add SCHUFA?
An NIE number and proof of income; German applicants usually also a SCHUFA report. The loan must be repaid by age 75 — but with two borrowers the age of the younger one counts. Getting your NIE.
How much can you borrow with a non-resident mortgage in Spain? With a non-resident mortgage in Spain, Spanish banks lend as a rule up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación — the bank's own valuation, not the asking price.
In Portugal the ceiling is usually 80 %. The loan-to-value is only half the calculation: purchase costs of roughly 10 to 13 % are financed by no lender, so realistic planning starts at 30 to 40 % equity plus those costs in cash.
Two further constraints catch people out more often than the loan-to-value does. A new build cannot be mortgaged until it has been completed, signed off and registered, which means the developer's instalments are paid from equity for eighteen to thirty-six months.
And the loan has to be repaid by the borrower's seventy-fifth birthday — with two borrowers the age of the younger one counts, which is why a younger co-borrower on the title (minimum share 10 %) can turn thirteen years of term into twenty-three.
At least two of fifteen to twenty institutions are approached per case, because the less common structures sit with very few of them.
A broker who lives on the lender's commission can only put forward lenders who pay one. That is not a criticism of anyone's character; it is arithmetic. The consequence for the buyer is invisible and expensive: an entire segment of the market never appears in the comparison, and it tends to be the cheaper segment.
Because the fee here is paid by the client on success, that constraint disappears. The prepared file goes to lenders that pay no commission at all — including online banks that no commission-based broker submits to, simply because the work would not pay for itself. Preparing the case properly and presenting the borrower is what makes those lenders willing to look at a non-resident file in the first place.
In practice this usually shows up as a better rate on the loan actually arranged — in the order of 0.25 to 0.7 percentage points against commission-brokered offers, from our own brokerage experience rather than a published survey.
It is the regular case, not a promise: the rate in any individual case depends on the property, the loan-to-value, the fixed-rate period and the borrower's standing.
The comisión de apertura, the arrangement fee Spanish banks commonly charge, also drops away in many of these cases.
Representative example
Advertising a rate obliges us to show what it means in figures. Here it is — calculated with the bonificación at the lowest rate in the range. Depending on the bank and credit profile, the rate is higher. What the discount requires, what it is worth and what applies without it is set out below. Loan amount: €200,000. Loan-to-value: 70 %. Term: 20 years, fully amortising loan. Fixed borrowing rate: 2.4 % (with bonificación). Monthly payment: €1,050.09.
APR (TAE): 2.45 % — excluding the running costs of the bundled products (bank-dependent). Total amount payable: €252,022. Assumptions: Valuation (tasación) €400, no arrangement fee (comisión de apertura 0 %). The borrowing rate shown applies with the bonificación; it requires two to four bundled products, depending on the bank, whose running costs are not included in the APR. Without the bonificación the rate is 3.4 % → payment €1,149.67, APR 3.48 %.
The discount is therefore worth about €1,195 a year. Typical bundled products: bank account, term life cover, buildings insurance, alarm system. The bundled products carry running costs that can partly or fully offset the rate discount.
Whether the bonificación pays off depends on what those products cost in your case — we calculate that against the discount before you sign. Rates as at 5 October 2026. Source: Perini’s own bank survey (as at October 2026); 12-month Euríbor: Banco de España / EMMI. Not an offer and not a financing commitment — the rate you are actually granted depends on the bank, the property and your file.
Set against the fee itself, that is the calculation worth doing before deciding how a broker should be paid: a one-off percentage of the loan against a lower rate for the whole fixed-rate period. The fee page sets out the exact figures and the worked example.
How many lenders are actually approached, and what does that produce?
There are 30+ banks on the market in Spain and Portugal, plus German lenders. Per case, at least 2 of 15–20 institutions are approached: Spanish clearing banks with a non-resident desk, regional cajas, cross-border specialists and German lenders that lend against a property in Germany with the funds used in Spain. Which of those two routes fits — the Spanish lender or the German one securing against your German property — is set out in the guide to the overseas property mortgage.
The reason for approaching that many is that the less common structures sit with very few lenders. Of the 30+ institutions on the market, two will lend against an unencumbered property already held by a non-resident. One pays a developer's stage payments before the building has been signed off. A single-lender relationship does not find those; a comparison across the whole panel does.
Licence, register and supervision: how can you verify them without asking us?
Brokerage is carried out under the licence of Olga Nikushkina as a mortgage credit intermediary under § 34i(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, supplemented by § 34c for other loans. The entry in the German intermediary register carries the number D-W-132-ZUCB-95 and has existed since 26 September 2016; the competent authority for both licence and register is IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein in Krefeld.
In Portugal the transaction runs through a locally licensed intermediary. Professional indemnity cover is held with Allianz. Siegfried Perini is entered in the register as a person directly involved in brokerage and advice.
All of it is free to verify at vermittlerregister.info, by number or by name. In Spain the same licence is entered in the Banco de España register under code D559 — EU mortgage credit intermediary operating under the freedom to provide services, since 25 November 2021, searchable by name or code at app.bde.es.
Advice is given in five languages (DE/EN/FR/ES/RU). The full table, with the verifying authority named line by line, is on licensing and supervision.
Who pays the broker — and how can the independence be checked? The fee comes from the client, not from the bank, and only if the mortgage completes.
Every one of these entries can be checked free of charge at vermittlerregister.info. Advice is given in five languages (DE/EN/FR/ES/RU). The fee page sets out how it is calculated.
Frequently asked questions
Are you independent, or tied to a small panel of banks?
Independent, and the fee model is the reason it is possible. A broker paid by bank commission can only present lenders that pay one. Because the fee here comes from the client, lenders that pay nothing can be approached as well — including online banks that no commission-based broker submits to. There are 30+ banks on the market in Spain and Portugal, plus German lenders.
Who pays you — me or the bank?
You do, and only if the mortgage completes. There is no advance payment, no arrangement charge if it fails, and no IVA. The full calculation is on the fee page.
What is your fee if the mortgage does not complete?
Nothing. If the case fails at the bank, at the valuation or on the property itself, no cost arises for you — the brokerage carries that risk itself.
How much can a non-resident actually borrow in Spain?
As a rule up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación (the bank's own valuation) — in Portugal up to 80 %. Plan for 30–40 % equity plus 10–13 % purchase costs, which no Spanish bank finances.
Am I too old at 60 for a Spanish mortgage?
Usually not. The loan has to be repaid by age 75, but with two borrowers the age of the younger one counts — both go on the title, minimum share 10 %. From 62 and 52 that makes 23 years of term instead of 13.
What documents does a German buyer need?
An NIE number, proof of income, and for German applicants usually a SCHUFA report as well. Spanish banks assess income documented in Germany without difficulty; what they will not do is finance the purchase costs.
Can you show your licence and registration?
Yes, and every entry can be checked without contacting us. Licence under § 34i(1) and § 34c of the German Trade Regulation Act, adviser-register number D-W-132-ZUCB-95, entered on 26 September 2016 with IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein. The register at vermittlerregister.info is public and free.
Is there a Spanish company behind this?
No. Activity in Spain is a notified cross-border service from Germany. It is entered in the Banco de España register of mortgage credit intermediaries under code D559 — EU intermediary operating under the freedom to provide services, since 25 November 2021. The German entry is at vermittlerregister.info, the Spanish one at app.bde.es.
Related pages
Costs of buying in Spain
Cost of buying property in Spain: ITP by region, notary, land registry, lawyer — the full breakdown with a worked example.
What we charge
Mortgage advisor in Spain: our fee is 1 % of the loan actually arranged, payable only on success. No IVA, no upfront payment, no handling charge.
Getting your NIE
NIE application for Spain: three routes (consulate, in Spain, power of attorney). State fee around €9.84. Mandatory for property purchase and mortgage.
Requirements for non-residents
How do I get a Spanish mortgage as a non-resident? NIE, proof of income, roughly 30 % equity plus purchase costs and the 35 % rule — the full checklist.
Content by Siegfried Perini — local brand representative since 2019, active in real estate since 1992, entered in the German intermediary register (§ 11a GewO) as a person directly involved in brokerage and advice. Point of contact for German-speaking buyers in Spain and Portugal. Brokerage by Olga Nikushkina, mortgage credit intermediary under § 34i German Trade Regulation (GewO); in Portugal through a locally licensed intermediary.