Mortgage checklist for buying a house in Spain or Portugal: the documents the bank wants
What documents do you need to take to the bank as a foreigner? Two concise PDF checklists for Spain and Portugal, free of charge. The list of documents required by the bank sets out what you need to bear in mind when buying a property in Spain. Documents required for buying a property in Spain: NIE or NIF, bank statements, proof of equity and proof of income.
Open PDF directly (4 pages, DE/NL)
On this page: Open PDF · Key figures · Documents · Developer · Frequently Asked Questions
Which documents do I need as a non-resident — what belongs on the mortgage checklist for Spain?
Banks require from non-residents a fixed set of documents: proof of income for the last two to three months, recent bank statements, proof of equity, the NIE in Spain or the NIF in Portugal, and the preliminary contract (contrato de arras in Spain, CPCV in Portugal). The two free PDF checklists bundle this list.
What you get:
- Mortgage key facts · LTV, equity, costs, terms as at 6 October 2026
- Rate ranges · fixed, variable and mixed — every figure with its source
- Tax rates · ITP by region in Spain, IMT and stamp duty in Portugal
- Document checklist · to tick off before you go to the bank
- Route via Germany · the extra documents needed when a German property serves as security
Open the PDF directly — no form: Spain property purchase checklist — mortgage documents (PDF, 4 pages) · Portugal mortgage checklist — documents for non-residents (PDF, 4 pages). The German editions are on the German checklist page.
Mortgage checklist Spain: is there a free one covering every document the bank asks for?
There is a free mortgage checklist for Spain and Portugal — two PDFs covering every document the bank asks for.
- Does it exist? Yes — two free PDF checklists, one for Spain and one for Portugal, plus the full document list openly on this page.
- What does it cover? Identification, proof of income, proof of equity, property documents, and the extra papers for the self-employed, civil servants, pensioners, non-German EU citizens or a German property as security.
- The checklists are free: Both PDFs are free and without obligation.
The checklists summarise what banks in Spain and Portugal require from non-residents: proof of income, proof of equity, NIE or NIF, preliminary contract.
Choose Spain, Portugal or both. You receive the PDFs by email.
This checklist complements the property purchase process — that page covers the order, this one the documents.
The two PDF checklists bundle exactly this list for ticking off, together with the key figures on loan-to-value, equity and purchase costs and an overview of which banks finance non-residents at all.
If one piece is missing, it is rarely “the bank” that declines — usually it is simply the wrong bank, and the choice among several lenders decides.
Why does the bank's list for Spain and Portugal sit openly on this page, side by side?
This is the content of both checklists. It sits openly on the page, because it is of no use to anyone while it is locked in a PDF: knowing what will be asked means gathering once instead of supplying three times. Follow-up requests, not creditworthiness, are the most common reason a financing drags on for weeks.
- Spain: Key financing facts for Spain, as at 9 October 2026: Loan-to-value for non-residents — Value: 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación value (up to 70 % of the appraised value). Own funds — Value: around 30 % plus purchase costs. Purchase costs — Value: 10–13 % of the price.
- Term — Value: calculated: repaid by age 75; with two borrowers the younger age counts; in practice not much below 10 years. Fixed-rate period — Value: fixed, variable or mixed. Fixed rate with bonificación (purchase loan) — Value: from 2.4 % to 3.0 %.
- Repayment — Value: fully amortising loan, level payment (annuity loan). Tax number — Value: NIE, required before signing. Preliminary contract — Value: Arras Penitenciales, typically a 10 % deposit.
- Identification — Spain: Identity card and passport, copies; NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) — to be applied for at the Spanish consulate before signing; Current certificate of registered address.
- Assets and creditworthiness — Spain: Proof of equity: around 30 % of the price plus 10–13 % purchase costs, held in an account or portfolio; SCHUFA self-disclosure under Art. 15 GDPR — not the simple score, no more than 1 month old; Tenancy agreement for your current home, or title deeds and loan agreements for property you own; Where you own property: the last 2 annual interest certificates and evidence that nothing is in arrears; For financing without own capital (e.g. using a German property as collateral): proof that the funds for the deposit (Arras) are available at short notice until the follow-up financing is disbursed — before the bank review begins, not afterwards.
- If the property is already chosen — Spain: Arras contract (deposit agreement) — to be reviewed before signing; Nota Simple, the current land registry extract, no more than 3 months old; Community rules where the property is an apartment.
- Portugal: With rates, taxes and a representative example on a page of its own: Portugal mortgage checklist.
- Key financing facts for Portugal, as at 9 October 2026: Loan-to-value for non-residents — Value: up to 80 % of the appraised value. Own funds — Value: at least 20 % plus purchase costs. Purchase costs — Value: around 10 to 11 % of the price.
- Fixed-rate period — Value: fixed, variable or mixed. Repayment — Value: annuity loan with a level payment.
Tax number — Value: NIF, required before signing. Preliminary contract — Value: CPCV, deposit (sinal) customarily 10 % (up to 30 % agreed in individual cases; the law fixes no rate).
Identification — Portugal: Identity card and passport, copies; NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) — obtainable online or in person; Current certificate of registered address; Proof of address: utility bill, tenancy agreement or bank statement.
Proof of income — Portugal: Last 3 to 6 payslips plus the December payslip of the previous year; Employment contract and confirmation that the employment is not under notice; Tax assessments for the last 2 years; All tax documents — tax returns and tax assessments — from every country in which you are liable to tax; Bank statements for the salary account, last 6 months — complete and unredacted.
Assets and creditworthiness — Portugal: Proof of equity: at least 20 % of the price plus around 10 to 11 % purchase costs, held in an account or portfolio; SCHUFA self-disclosure under Art. 15 GDPR, no more than 1 month old; Tenancy agreement for your current home, or title deeds for property you own; Where you have existing loans: the last 2 annual interest certificates; For financing without own capital (e.g. using a German property as collateral): proof that the funds for the deposit (Sinal) are available at short notice until the follow-up financing is disbursed — before the bank review begins, not afterwards.
If the property is already chosen — Portugal: Draft CPCV (Contrato Promessa de Compra e Venda) — to be reviewed before signing; Caderneta Predial, the tax office record for the property; Certidão Permanente, the land registry extract from the Conservatória, no more than 3 months old; Ficha Técnica de Habitação, the technical building record.
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 are a bank account, term life cover, buildings insurance and an alarm system.
Rates as at 6 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.
Not on this page: which institutions write which structure. That is part of the mandate. The fixed-rate range above is guidance with a representative example — not an offer; your actual rate depends on creditworthiness, property and bank.
Key facts for a mortgage in Spain: can I check where each figure comes from?
Behind every figure is where it comes from, so you can check rather than believe.
| Item | Value | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Tax number | NIE, before signing | one to two days in Spain, several weeks to months through a consulate |
| Preliminary contract | arras penitenciales, deposit customarily 10 % | without a condición suspensiva it is lost if the bank refuses |
| Processing to approval | 3 days to 4 weeks | with a complete file; the offer itself lands within ten days |
| Valuation (tasación) | 5 to 10 working days | depends on the surveyor; faster if commissioned in advance |
| Statutory period before the deed | at least 10 days (FEIN) | Ley 5/2019; at least 11 days sit between approval and keys |
Terms for a mortgage in Spain as at 06.10.2026: can the bundled products cost more than the rate discount?
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.
| Rate type | Range | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed, with bonificación | 2.4 to 3.0 % p. a. (TIN) | own bank survey, verified 06.10.2026 |
| Fixed, without bonificación | 3.4 to 4.0 % p. a. | the same survey — this is the price without bundled products |
| Variable | 12-month Euríbor 2.95 % plus a margin of 0.25 to 0.9 %, 3.2 to 3.85 % in total | margin from our own survey; Euríbor: Banco de España / EMMI |
| Mixed | a premium of 0.1 to 0.3 percentage points over the fixed-rate version | own bank survey, verified 06.10.2026 |
| Bonificación | cuts the rate by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points, in individual cases 1.0 percentage points | requires two to four bundled products: account, term life cover, buildings insurance, alarm system |
Transfer tax (ITP) by region in Spain: where does the arithmetic go wrong?
Two points where the arithmetic regularly goes wrong. First: on a developer new build, IVA (10 %) replaces ITP, and the buyer then pays AJD on the purchase deed. Second: AJD on the mortgage deed has been payable by the bank, not by you, since 10 November 2018 (Real Decreto-ley 17/2018, confirmed by Ley 5/2019). Any cost schedule that charges you AJD on the mortgage is wrong. Rates retrieved 19.08.2026.
| Region | ITP on resale | AJD |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusia (Costa del Sol, Marbella) | 7 % | 1.2 % |
| Balearics (Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca) | banded, 8 to 13 % | 1.5 % |
| Comunitat Valenciana (Costa Blanca, Valencia) | 9 % up to €1,000,000, 11 % above | 1.4 % |
| Catalonia (Costa Brava, Barcelona) | banded, 10 to 13 % | 1.5 % |
| Canary Islands | 6.5 % | 0.75 % |
| Madrid | 6 % | 0.75 % |
| Murcia (Costa Cálida) | 7.75 % | 1.5 % |
What is added depending on your status?
The list above applies to every applicant. These documents come on top as soon as one of the following applies — in Spain and in Portugal alike:
- Self-employed and freelancers: Business registration, entry in the trade register or professional licence; Last 3 sets of accounts (cash-basis statement, or balance sheet with P&L); Current interim financial statement and trial balance; Self-disclosure, private and business.
- Civil servants: Certificate of appointment as a permanent civil servant; Most recent monthly salary statement.
- Pensioners: Most recent pension notice; Bank statement showing the latest pension payment; Evidence of private pension provision, if any.
- EU citizens who are not German: Residence permit or EU identity card; Home-country tax assessment instead of the German one; Home-country credit report instead of SCHUFA.
- Using a German property as security: Current land registry extract for the German property, no more than 6 months old; Valuation or market value estimate — we can have one commissioned; Current release of charges, or the free portion of the land charge.
The figures you enter into these documents are gathered on three pages by the bilingual self-disclosure form. What the purchase costs on top is set out in the purchase cost overview.
Where do mortgage applications in Spain fall over?
Signing first, financing second: The preliminary contract ties up the deposit. Without a financing clause it is lost if the bank refuses — which is why the check belongs before the signature.
- Treating purchase costs as financeable: Banks finance the purchase price, not the costs around it. They come on top of your equity, and they fall due before the loan is drawn.
- Calculating on the price instead of the valuation: What is financed is the lower of price and valuation. If the valuation comes in below, you pay the difference.
- Applying for the tax number too late: Without it nothing is executed. An NIE obtained through a consulate costs weeks — the largest avoidable delay in the whole process.
- Filing redacted or incomplete bank statements: They are regularly rejected and cost a full round of time. The same goes for the simple credit score instead of the full data copy under Art. 15 GDPR.
- Budgeting for AJD as your own cost: On the mortgage deed the bank is the taxpayer. AJD is a buyer cost only on a new build, and then on the purchase deed.
Before you sign with a developer: Anyone who signs first and only then looks for financing has already accepted the payment schedule. These points decide whether financing is possible later at all.
The original payment schedule. How much falls due when — reservation, private contract, every single construction instalment? Not the agent’s summary, but the developer’s schedule. Expected completion sign-off. And the honest question that follows: how long does the Licencia de Primera Ocupación (first-occupation licence) take in this municipality? Three to six months is usual — in some municipalities up to two years (Perini Market Check).
Bank guarantee (aval) for your payments on account. Required by law. Without it, every instalment you pay is unsecured. Building permit in place? Without a licence there is no private contract that will carry a financing.
Who carries the construction period? The decisive question: does your bank pay the instalments during construction — or only at completion sign-off? Of the 30+ institutions on the market, one does.
If you have already signed: All is not lost. Even if the bank has withdrawn its approval, or you have already paid in full and are waiting for completion sign-off, up to 70 % of the tasación can still be released as financing after the event. But the window is narrow, and it closes after completion sign-off. Financing construction instalments during the build
Mortgage checklist Spain & Portugal — what is in the two PDFs?
Two compact PDF checklists for your mortgage in Spain or Portugal: all documents, key facts (as at 9 October 2026) and terms (as at 6 October 2026) — straight from practice. Choose Spain, Portugal or both countries.
Already concrete? Get the self-disclosure form (DE/EN) via a quick form.
Related: the bank's offer only becomes binding with the FEIN — Oferta vinculante: what has to be on the table ten days before the notary.
Mortgage in Spain: what do we take on, and what do we charge?
We take on the pre-check, the selection of lenders, the documents, the contract check and support up to the notary; our fee is 1 % of the loan actually arranged. A selection of lenders, not a branch visit. We work with 15 to 20 institutions and approach at least two of them per case: major Spanish banks, regional cajas, non-resident specialists and international lenders. What counts is who writes the structure, not who calls it conceivable. We do not publish lender names — they belong in the conversation (Perini Market Check, as at 08.10.2026).
- A check before you sign. You hear whether the financing holds before the preliminary contract, not after the deposit has left your account.
- Documents in bankable form. We sort them, have them translated and file them. With a complete file, processing runs from 3 days to 4 weeks.
- Contract check. The arras contract and the payment schedule are reviewed before they bind you — with an eye on the financing clause.
- Title check. The Nota Simple, reconciliation with the cadastre, charges and arrears.
- Support up to the notary. Two appointments, the FEIN period, the registry entry — the order of events is half the battle. On request with representation on site.
- Language. German, English, French, Spanish and Russian — including towards the bank, the notary and the gestoría.
Why the fee model pushes the rate down: we are paid by the client, not by the bank. That opens up lenders who pay no broker commission, online banks included. In our brokerage practice the loans arranged therefore sit, as a rule, 0.25 to 0.7 percentage points below commission-brokered offers (own brokerage practice, verified 19.08.2026). This is not a promise: property, loan-to-value, fixed-rate period and creditworthiness decide the individual case. A frequent side effect: the arrangement fee (comisión de apertura) falls away.
Our fee is 1 % of the loan actually arranged — not of the purchase price — falls due only if the financing completes, and carries no VAT. If no financing materialises you pay nothing: no advance payment, no handling charge. If the loan ends up smaller than planned, the fee shrinks with it.
Frequently asked questions
What does the checklist cost?
Nothing. The PDFs are free and without obligation.
Do documents from abroad have to be translated?
Banks regularly require evidence from abroad to be translated. In practice this takes time, so it is worth starting early.
When do I need to apply for my NIE?
The tax reference number is required before the contract is signed and should be applied for before the preliminary contract is drawn up. In Spain, this is the NIE; in Portugal, it is the NIF.
What documents do I need as a non-resident?
Proof of income for the last two to three months (employees: payslips and employment contract; self-employed: three sets of annual accounts), recent bank statements, proof of equity, the foreign tax identification number (the NIE in Spain, the NIF in Portugal) and the preliminary contract. The full list is openly available on this page.
Is there a Portugal version?
Yes. A separate variant covers the Portuguese requirements.
How old can a land registry extract (Grundbuchauszug) be?
The Nota Simple in Spain and the Certidão Permanente in Portugal must not be more than 3 months old.
Is there a checklist for buying property in Spain as a non-resident?
Yes — this page is that checklist. It lists everything a bank asks for as a non-resident: identification, proof of income, proof of equity, property documents, plus the extra papers required for the self-employed, civil servants, pensioners, non-German EU citizens, or when a German property is offered as security. See the full document list or request the free PDF below.
Which SCHUFA report do I need?
The personal data disclosure under Art. 15 GDPR, not the simple score. It may be no more than 1 month old.
How high is the down payment on the preliminary contract?
In Spain, a down payment of 10 % is usual with the Arras penitenciales. In Portugal, the Sinal under the CPCV is usually 10 to 30 % (mostly 10 %, in individual cases agreed up to 30 %; the law sets no rate).
How much equity does the bank require?
In Spain around 30 % of the purchase price plus 10 to 13 % incidental costs, in Portugal at least 20 % plus around 10 to 11 % incidental costs. Both must be evidenced on an account or securities account.
Related pages
Request the guide ‘Financing construction instalments’
Construction instalments for new-build properties in Spain: The standard bank only pays on completion and sign-off of the building. One of the 30+ banks on the market pays each instalment to the developer.
Property purchase process
Buying property in Spain step by step: the right order for financing, arras and the escritura — and why the condición suspensiva is the lever.
Portugal mortgage checklist
Portugal mortgage checklist for non-residents: required documents, up to 80 % loan-to-value, IMT and rates with a representative example — free PDF in English and German.
Bilingual self-disclosure form
Self-disclosure form for a mortgage in Spain or Portugal: all 11 sections and 65 fields on the page, fillable DE/EN version free by email.
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.