Applying for a mortgage in Spain
Who doesn’t dream of owning their own home in Spain? Wonderful, sun, sea and sangria… But where to start? Can I even get a mortgage? And what is the maximum amount I can borrow?
Thom & Etienne of holapedro can help you make your dream come true through this tool. They offer all the information and useful checks for arranging a mortgage in Spain. Meet these young entrepreneurs further and get to know more about their platform.
Who are you & what do you do?
We are Thom (digital product designer) and Etienne (marketing & automation strategist). In daily life, we work as freelance entrepreneurs and we also help startups and spin-offs launch, develop and scale digital startups.
Both of us have been fans of Spain and especially Valencia for years. We have both lived there for a while; visit regularly and have long cherished the desire to buy a house or apartment here.
We started exploring that option in the past, but we ran into a tremendously rigid and outdated system here. We just wanted to know if a purchase would be possible for us i.c.w. financing. In reality, we had conversations with both Spanish banks and Dutch-speaking advisors, which led nowhere. A lot of information was contradictory, golden mountains were promised that later turned out not to be true and the Spanish banks are completely incomprehensible. Eventually it became clear to us (after a long time) that financing a house was not an option at this time.
However, we turned the frustration from that process into a digital mortgage advisor (holapedro.com) so that others don’t have to go through the same process we did.
holapedro, what exactly does that entail?
Our platform offers all the necessary information and tools with which you can find out whether a mortgage in Spain for a house purchase is possible for you. And if so, under which conditions, how high can the purchase price be, how much money you have to bring and much more concrete information.
What help/solutions do you offer?
Holapedro’s services are divided into 3 phases:
- Free information on the website: we write blogs, whitepapers and eBooks about how the process works in Spain, fact-checked with advisors and banks. You’ll find a lot of useful information, absolutely free. So we can answer many questions early on;
- A digital report (called mortgage indication), where for a small fee of €19.95 you can check your options for a mortgage and get a comprehensive result;
- Any follow-up through a certified mortgage broker from reputable firms. We work with parties who have the papers to provide sound mortgage advice and a track record of satisfied clients. They offer consultations, quotations from a Spanish bank, financing options in the Netherlands (use surplus value) and finally a mortgage application.
What have you built and how does your concept work?
We have digitized the entire pre-validation process that a Spanish bank does and bundled it into an online tool. This provides automated opinion according to guidelines and official standards. We use algorithms and AI to give sound purchase advice. So no long, complicated conversations with an advisor full of ‘possibilities’, but immediately a concrete advice report full of financial information and how the process works in Spain.
What makes your services valuable?
We provide standardization of the validation process for financing in Spain. This has the following advantages:
- Honest advice based on guidelines and banking standards;
- We use algorithms and calculations based on numbers rather than assumptions;
- Insight within 30 minutes, where conversations with consultants and an opinion can take days or even weeks;
- A low investment (€19.95) for concrete information you can move forward with;
- We look at the options of financing in Spain as well as in the Netherlands or Belgium (use surplus value). So it is independent and to your advantage as a buyer;
- Follow-up through reputable advisors and consulting firms, with discounts through holapedro.
There are also challenges, of course. For example, it is difficult for our system to detect and process special situations or anomalies. Think of reading financial statements or IB returns. If you enter this incorrectly as an applicant, the outcome may differ from reality. Especially in the case of buyers with multiple income streams, it may be more convenient to have a specialist assess this.
So after our indication, you can always talk to a mortgage advisor in Spain. They can discuss the outcome with you and make any corrections based on your situation. In some cases they ask a fee for a custom study, so we have negotiated a substantial discount so you never pay double.
What are your ambitions?
We quickly saw that there are lots of opportunities to help more people. Our goal is to expand the standardization process by working with new partners in Spain. We see many opportunities to cooperate with financial parties, as well as real estate agents and lawyers.
We are also internationalizing, offering our software in multiple languages, including English, and have recently expanded into Portugal as a country to purchase from.
What is the current state of the Spanish housing market?
This is currently (October 2024) very good! There was a dip in 2023, due to rapidly rising mortgage rates. But these have now fallen again and are stable. Actually similar to the Netherlands. The calmness and thus interest in real estate investment in Spain increased again significantly.
Because of this, but also in general, we see a lot of interest in buying in Spain. Obviously because of the wonderful climate and culture, but also because the supply of real estate remains large, while prices are considerably (30-40%) lower than in the Netherlands. In addition, we see a lot of promotion by both financial offices in the Netherlands and influencers. These create a lot of extra demand for properties in Spain.
What are the expectations for the coming years?
We believe that more and more foreigners want to buy in Spain and especially the Mediterranean area, such as the Costa Blanca. We like to play a small but important role in that process. And possibly one day we ourselves will become customers of our own software 😉
In addition, we are busy further integrating AI and continuously making our digital tool smarter and better. So the role of the advisor will become more and more truly specialized and less focused on repetitive and manual tasks.
Do you have any tips for people who want to buy a house in Spain?
Huge! First of all, don’t be fooled. Once you show interest in buying in Spain then everyone wants to help you. This is because competition is stiff among estate agents, developers and consultants. People regularly push you to make quick decisions. We always say: take your time and make your own choices.
Also remember that nothing in the world is free. If someone offers a service for free, it means that it is paid for through some other means. And to what extent are you then independent?
Now, do you really want a complete picture of a purchase in Costa Blanca, including the financing process?
If so, the eBook we co-wrote with holapedro is a great place to start. Download this eBook and use the discount code costablancanl for 20% off*.
*Also valid on the mortgage indication Spain
Publication date:
17 November 2024
Publication date: 17 November 2024
Updated on:
5 January 2026
Updated on: 5 January 2026
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