REPAYMENT PERIOD: It is advisable to purchase the property in installments in order to take advantage of the tax deductions. There are important fiscal benefits to buying a house. The ideal period would be between 10 and 15 years. However it depends on the price of the property and our personal economic situation. The repayment period can be up to 35 years.

VALUATION: This is the assessment of what the property is actually worth. It is carried out by a qualified person who makes a market valuation of the property for the bank, so the bank can determine the maximum financing that it is prepared to loan.

TYPE OF INTEREST: It is advisable to go for a variable loan with reference to the MIBOR or the Euribor. The euribor is more widely used. Normally there is a fixed interest rate during the first year which is reviewed after one year and the differential is added. The bank, after one year, will look at the interest reference of the day (euribor or MIBOR depending on which one applies) and add the differential (0.75%, 1%, 1.25%, etc according to what was agreed with the client) which is normally rounded off to rise to the next quarter of a per cent.

BANKING COMMISSIONS: There are two types of commissions ('comisión de apertura'the comission for opening the loan account and ' comision de cancelación' the comission for the cancelling/settling/paying off of the loan account.). It is advisable to check the commission for cancelation in advance. This means that if we have savings and we want to reduce the debt we have with the bank we will be charged for cancelling part or the total amount of money that we owe.

COMPARISONS: Ask other financial entities for their loan conditions. There are differences between banks, this is why it is important to make comparisons. Ideally, we should find out what the terms of payment are with the bank where we have an account as they supposedly know us and may be able to offer us ´better deal', but it is still advisable to compare with the more entities the better.

MAXIMUM MONTHLY CREDITWORTHINESS: Look at your creditworthiness in order to determine the period of financing. It is important to know the payments we can make each month so that we can extend or shorten the credit period.

MONTHLY PAYMENTS: In the monthly payments there are two components:
   · The repayment of the loan (the money that the bank has lent us).
   · The interest that the bank charges us every month for the loan of the money.

You can estimate approximately 10% more than the cost of the house in additional costs:1. Valuation. You must pay a professional person, (valuer), to do a valuation of the property so that the bank can see how much it can finance.

Notary Expenses. The Notary must do two things, the purchase deed and the mortgage deed.

Impuesto de transmisiones patrimoniales (Purchase Tax). This is the tax that you must pay when you buy a property from another person and it is 6% of the sale price.

Land Registry Fees. You have to pay corresponding costs in order to register your property and the mortgage.

Comisiones de apertura (banks commission for opening the credit account.) This is established by the bank when they agree to loan you the money.

Agency Costs. This must be paid to the company or agency which takes care of all the necessary documents.