{"id":106291,"date":"2023-02-01T09:15:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T08:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/sin-categoria\/como-comprar-una-vivienda-con-una-deuda-de-hipoteca\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T11:39:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:39:40","slug":"how-to-buy-property-spain-outstanding-mortgage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/buyers\/how-to-buy-property-spain-outstanding-mortgage\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"How to buy a property in Spain with an outstanding mortgage"},"content":{"rendered":"<table class=\"table table-striped table-color-200\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>nota simple<\/strong> (land registry certificate) <strong>from the Land Registry<\/strong> allows the buyer to verify the existence of mortgage charges or other liens on the property before formalizing the sale.<\/li>\n<li>The mortgage will not be transferred to the buyer&#8217;s name unless explicitly agreed upon (mortgage subrogation). Most commonly, <strong>the seller uses the proceeds from the sale to pay off and cancel their mortgage.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The buyer must <strong>have savings equivalent to 30% of the property value<\/strong> (20% for the down payment of a new mortgage and 10% to cover closing costs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Buying a property with an active mortgage debt is completely legal in Spain, but it is important to be well-informed. Knowing the available financial alternatives will allow you to make the best decision according to your economic profile.<\/p>\n<p>At Fotocasa, we analyze in detail the legal steps, financing options, and saving requirements needed to acquire a property with mortgage debts.<\/p>\n<p>What are the key aspects you should review before buying your home?<\/p>\n<h2>Buying a property with an outstanding mortgage in Spain: is it possible?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/buyers\/how-to-buy-a-house-in-spain-as-a-non-resident-foreigner\/?lang=en\">buying a house<\/a> that has an outstanding mortgage is completely possible and, in fact, very common. The formula usually used in these cases is for <strong>the seller to use the money from the sale to cancel the mortgage loan.<\/strong> This way, the charge will disappear and the buyer will not have to worry about it.<\/p>\n<p>However, <strong>the buyer has different financial alternatives on the table to handle this situation by mutual agreement with the seller,<\/strong> which we explain in this article.<\/p>\n<h2>How to know if a property is free of mortgage charges?<\/h2>\n<p>To check if the house you are interested in has a mortgage debt or other financial obligations, <b>you must request a nota simple from the Land Registry<\/b>. This official document will detail all active charges on the property and confirm the true ownership of the seller.<\/p>\n<section class=\"mini-posts\"><div class=\"row align-items-center\"><div class=\"col-4 col-md-3 pt-2 pb-2\"><div class=\"mini-posts__image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/buyers\/10-documents-buying-house-spain\/?lang=en\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Gemini_Generated_Image_ho0hxjho0hxjho0h-1-355x230.png\" alt=\"The 10 documents you need to know before buying your home in Spain\" title=\"-\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col-8 col-md-9 pt-2 pb-2\"><h3 class=\"mini-posts__title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/buyers\/10-documents-buying-house-spain\/?lang=en\">The 10 documents you need to know before buying your home in Spain<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<h2><b>What options do we have when buying a property with a mortgage debt in Spain?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The process of buying and selling a flat with mortgage debt offers different financial alternatives that adapt to the needs of both the buyer and the seller.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Taking out a new mortgage from scratch<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/buyers\/mortgage-requirements-spain-non-residents\/?lang=en\">Taking out a new mortgage<\/a> is the option chosen by most people. You apply for a loan at the banking institution of your choice that offers you the best conditions. At the moment of signing, the seller pays off the remaining balance to their bank, and your new mortgage is registered from scratch.<\/p>\n<p>To opt for this path, <strong>you must have prior savings of approximately 30% of the property value<\/strong>. This is because financial institutions lend a maximum of 80% of the purchase price, requiring a 20% down payment and an additional 10% for closing costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fotocasa is the expert real estate portal if you are looking for your home in Spain and want to resolve your doubts about housing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":106323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13472],"tags":[13692,13548,16094,16093,16070,16071,16073,16074,14821,13552,13551,13549,16098,13550,16096,16097,13547,16095],"class_list":["post-106291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buyers","tag-buy","tag-buy-in-spain","tag-buying-a-home","tag-buying-a-property-with-a-mortgage-spain","tag-comprador","tag-comprar-piso-2023","tag-comprar-vivienda-con-deuda-de-hipoteca","tag-comprar-vivienda-con-hipoteca","tag-foreign","tag-housing-doubts","tag-housing-experts-in-spain","tag-housing-purchase-market-spain","tag-legal-advice-spain","tag-live-in-spain","tag-mortgage-debt","tag-property-purchase","tag-real-estate-market","tag-spain-real-estate"],"modified_by":"Patricia Andr\u00e9s","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}