How much a bank will lend
Less than to a resident. That is the one generalisation worth making; everything past it depends on the lender and on your profile, and any adviser quoting you a single national percentage is guessing.
Two mechanics matter more than the headline figure. The first is that the loan is calculated on the lower of the price and the bank's own valuation — if the valuation comes in under the price, the shortfall is yours to cover in cash, on top of the deposit. The second is that the assessment is of affordability, not of the property: the bank is deciding whether you can service the debt from income it can verify.
What is actually assessed
- Verifiable, recurring income — and how much of it is guaranteed rather than variable or discretionary.
- Total debt service, including borrowing held outside Spain. A mortgage in your own country counts against you here.
- Employment stability, or for the self-employed, trading history and whether declared income matches what moves through the accounts.
- Assets and liquidity after completion, which is what turns a marginal case into an approval.
- Whether the story the documents tell is internally consistent. This one is not on any checklist and decides more files than the others.
Currency deserves a line of its own. Earning in a currency other than the euro is normal and fundable, but the bank will apply a margin for exchange risk, and some lenders are markedly more comfortable with it than others. Choosing the right lender for your currency is a decision made before the application, not after a decline.
The file
The list is not long. What makes it slow is that every item has to arrive translated where required, current, and consistent with the others.
- Passport and NIE for every borrower.
- Proof of income: recent payslips and an employer's letter, or two to three years of accounts and tax returns if self-employed.
- Personal tax return for the last full year, from your country of residence.
- Bank statements, usually six to twelve months, for the accounts your income arrives in.
- A credit report from your country, where one exists.
- Evidence of the funds for the deposit and costs, and of where they came from.
What quietly ends an application
In our experience, in this order.
- Source of funds that cannot be evidenced to the standard required — not because anything is wrong, but because the paperwork was never kept.
- Undisclosed borrowing that surfaces in a credit report after the application went in. Disclose it at the start; it is rarely fatal, and finding it later usually is.
- A valuation below the agreed price, discovered too late to renegotiate.
- Approaching several banks independently at the same time, which shows up and reads as a file that has already been declined elsewhere.
None of these is an affordability problem. All of them are presentation problems, and all of them are avoidable before the file is submitted rather than after.
Frequently asked questions
How much will a Spanish bank lend me as a non-resident?
Less than to a resident, and the exact share depends on the lender and your profile. It is also calculated on the lower of price and valuation, so a low valuation increases the cash you need.
I am self-employed. Does that change things?
It changes what is examined, not whether you can borrow. Trading history, declared income and whether your accounts corroborate your tax returns carry the weight. Presented badly, a solvent self-employed applicant reads as unstable.
I am paid in a currency other than euros. Is that a problem?
No, but it is a factor. Lenders apply a margin for exchange risk and they differ considerably in how they treat it, which is why the choice of lender should be made before applying.
Should I approach several banks at once?
No. Simultaneous applications are visible to lenders and read badly. A single well-matched application, prepared once, is both faster and more likely to be approved.
The first assessment is free and carries no obligation.