You have decided to buy an apartment. And to take a loan. Yes, a loan. No matter how much credit in our nation was for modern “debt slavery”, it is often the only way to get security and your own home. Getting a loan for purchase is a completely legitimate investment in the long run, for which – as well as for all serious life endeavors – it is necessary to prepare. In this text, we will try to clarify some basic banking terms that you will come across when looking for a perfect loan for you. Let’s start with the basic concepts:
- Creditworthiness is the first thing that banks examine when you apply for a loan. It is, in fact, your financial ability as a debtor to repay the loan at maturity, increased by the amount of interest due.
- The down payment is the payment of a part of the purchase price made by the buyer directly to the Investor, and as a guarantee that he will make the payment of the remaining part of the purchase price in the future. Most banks require a minimum down payment or a share of 20% of the value of the apartment you are buying.
- The principal is the basic, borrowed amount, which the debtor owes to the creditor and on which interest is calculated.
- The annuity is the same as the loan installment, ie., regular, usually monthly, payment, which the client pays to the bank in the name of loan repayment. The amount of the loan installment and the deadline for payment are contained in the Loan Repayment Plan that the bank provides to the client when signing the Loan Agreement.
- The grace period (period of deferred repayment) is the period in which the loan was made available to the client, and his repayment has not yet begun. This is the period between the payment of the loan and the maturity of the first installment. The grace period can last from several months to several years.
Only the one who bought an apartment taking out a loan knows how much patience it takes to find a suitable apartment, and then even more patience if he decides to go to the bank in the coming years. Precisely because these are large amounts, but also long repayment periods, it takes a lot of time and effort to choose the right loan.
- Interest is a fee paid for the use of bank funds. This usage price is expressed as a percentage and is called the interest rate. Its amount depends on the type of loan, the term for which the bank provides funds to the client, securing the collection of receivables (mortgage, “guarantee”), market conditions, competition…
- The effective interest rate (EIR) is an interest rate that shows how much the client’s loan really costs, i.e., what the total cost of the loan is. In addition to the regular interest rate, the amount of the effective interest rate is also affected by the amount of fees that the client pays to the bank when approving the loan, the length of the loan repayment, the amount of any required participation, etc.
- Default interest is the interest that is charged if the client has not fulfilled the contractual obligations within the period stipulated in the Loan Agreement. Its amount is usually regulated by legal regulations on default interest.
- Euribor (Euro Interbank Offered Rate) is the reference interest rate at which banks are willing to lend each other money – the euro. In our country, banks use it to determine interest rates on various financial products such as mortgages, savings accounts, and loans. It represents a part of the interest (more precisely, the value of Euribor is added to the interest rate) for loans obtained in euros. The value of Euribor is changeable.
Low Euribor also reduced interest rates on loans for the purchase of the real estate, but potential buyers also have other expenses that we will list in the text that follows. Obtaining a loan also includes payment of participation, loan processing costs, insurance premiums with NMIC, life insurance, periodic real estate appraisals, mortgage registration, real estate insurance, notarization…
- NMIC (National Mortgage Insurance Corporation) is a corporation that insures loans approved by banks natural persons for the purchase of the real estate, which is secured by a mortgage. By taking part in the risk, the Corporation lowers the bank’s total risk, which affects the reduction of the interest rate that the bank charges to its client.
- Collateral is one of the ways in which the bank ensures proper loan repayment. Depending on the amount and type of loan, the bank determines the necessary collateral. Most often, they are their own bills of exchange and mortgages on real estate in favor of the bank. The mortgage is registered on the real estate that the client buys or some other real estate owned by the client.
- A mortgage is a lien on real estate that authorizes the creditor to, if the debtor does not pay the debt in maturity or if another obligation that activates the mortgage is violated, demand collection of the claim secured by the mortgage from the value of the real estate.
- A bill of exchange is a document, issued in a strictly legal form, in which the issuer undertakes to pay a certain amount within the deadline, or invites another person to make that payment. A blank bill of exchange is an unfilled bill of exchange form provided with the necessary signatures and can legally become a bill of exchange as soon as other important data are filled in.
In the end, it remains to clarify a few more terms that are for most “Spanish villages” and try to bring you closer to what it is really about…
- A guarantor is a person who guarantees proper loan fraud by committing that if the borrower does not will fulfill its obligations, continue to settle these obligations.
- A bail is a way of securing the payment of a debt when a third party undertakes to pay the debtor’s debt to the creditor within a certain period of time under certain conditions. This is practically in the same category as the guarantor.
- Loan refinancing is one way to overcome the problem of loan repayment. If the client’s income is not enough to pay the liabilities on the basis of loans taken, refinancing of liabilities implies the possibility to combine all existing liabilities with one loan (refinancing loan) for a longer period and with a smaller monthly installment.
All the buildings that Grading is building are registered and buyers are enabled to buy apartments through housing loans. Grading successfully cooperates with all banks in our market.
Domestic banks approve credit apartment under construction for apartments under construction when the real estate is 80% completed. After that, a certified appraiser goes to the field to determine the degree of completion and evaluate the apartment. During that period, the buyer collects documentation and signs a loan agreement with the bank, followed by notarization of the pledge statement with the Notary and registration of the mortgage in the Real Estate Cadastre. When all this is over, the credit committee of the bank decides after checking the fulfillment of all conditions, to place a loan to the seller of the apartment.
This completes one big process, and the customers get the keys and can start tidying up and furnishing their new home.
