Advice Before Contracting A Mortgage
Those who lived through the crisis will remember that one of the great problems of it was the lack of capital of the banks due to the great losses derived from junk funds. These funds were like smoke, that is, real estate investments inflated in price on very low priced goods.
The consequence was a cut of the money tap, which meant that in many branches customers threw their hands at their heads when they saw that in order to withdraw large amounts of money they had to ask for it several days in advance. But something more important was that the acquisition of credits and mortgages suffered a sudden stop.
This slowdown was necessary to realize how we had been living during the years of economic boom. In other words, financial institutions gave mortgages despite the fact that the assets with which they had to be collected in the event of non-payment were valued at prices much higher than the real ones.
This caused a large wave of legal claims that led to foreclosure proceedings, and also claims against guarantors who lost what they had by not covering the unpaid amounts of the mortgage on the mortgaged property. The social drama was sharp, cutting, and tense.
A curiosity that we highlighted was the birth of platforms against evictions, highlighting the PAH, whose leader was Ada Colau, the current mayor of Barcelona. This anecdote serves to realize the importance of this social phenomenon since as we say, it was really hard for many people.
Years later, we reached a time when economic measures have taken effect and signs of economic recovery are beginning to be seen. Banks are currently granting mortgages again, so we are going to see why it is necessary to go to a tax advisor instead of looking for the best mortgage ourselves.
The benefits of having an advisor
The normal thing is that the first thing we do is visit the director of our branch, to comment on our intentions and to tell us the offer that the bank can give us. Additionally, we go online to find the best offers from banks and ask friends to find the best mortgage on the market. However, this is not the proper order to get the best mortgage.
The ideal thing is to first consult a mortgage advisor, if possible, free of charge. Normally it is not done, either due to ignorance of its existence or the help, it can give us or because we think that its true interests will be misaligned with ours. Something totally wrong. Although this statement may seem interested, let me explain why I consider that always thinking from the client-side, is a reality and a benefit:
In the first place, because the advisors have agreements with many banks, and they know perfectly which banks are giving mortgages, under what conditions, and to which customer profiles: if you are self-employed, immigrant if you have an excellent profile … They know and can the best mortgage for your profile because it is our job and we have all the updated information.
Second, first, if you go hand in hand with the mortgage advisor you will have access to cheaper mortgages than if we go on our own. The reason is simple: the advisers who contract more volume of mortgages with banks (such as idealista.com/hipotecas) have special agreements with several entities to get more discounts than a normal consumer can get in a branch for your account, even if it is your own branch. We are talking about thousands of euros of savings throughout the life of the mortgage.
In addition, there are also more reasons to count on your help. The advisor must explain to us in detail what the process of applying for and contracting a loan is. He will ask us about our financial situation and will advise us on the best option to access a mortgage with the best conditions. And finally, it will give us alternatives if our profile does not fit with what the banks demand, and this due to its ability to manage the request with multiple banks, avoiding wasting time between appointments and waiting for banking entities.
Therefore, if we want to obtain the best conditions taking into account our assets, we must go to consultancies such as Martin Laucirica, a consultancy located in Bilbao with more than 25 years of experience in the market, having as a speciality the advice and management of companies and business.