Free guide

Mortgage Guide

What your bank does not tell you about your mortgage. How financing is prepared, negotiated and signed without surprises.

How to prepare a solid bank file
Fixed, variable or mixed: how to choose in 2026
APR, NIR, linked products: what really matters
The 4 clauses you must always review

What you will read

01
Before requesting your first mortgageAvailable here
02
Fixed, variable or mixedAvailable here
03
APR, NIR, linked products: what really mattersAvailable here
04
What documentation to gather and requestIn the PDF
05
How to negotiate real conditionsIn the PDF
06
The 4 critical clausesIn the PDF
07
Signing and the FEIN documentIn the PDF
08
After signingIn the PDF

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Before requesting your first mortgage

Negotiating a mortgage well starts months before the application. The health of your payslip, savings, debts and bank movements decide the rate they will offer you.

A mortgage is not negotiated at the branch. It is negotiated with the financial picture you bring to the branch. And that picture is built months before, not the night before.

What the bank looks at: job stability (tenure and contract type), debt ratio (debt payments vs income), movement history (overdrafts, returns, gambling or short-term loan spending), savings capacity, and family guarantor if applicable.

Three months before applying: stop running overdrafts, do not open new credit lines, do not make atypical movements, keep a steady savings pattern. Small things that move the rate by 0.2-0.5 points.

Key insight

You earn the mortgage with your last 3-6 months of financial picture, not with the salesperson’s offer.

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Fixed, variable or mixed

There is no "best" type — there is the right type for your profile. Fixed if you prioritise predictability, variable if you think rates will fall, mixed if you want both.

A fixed mortgage offers predictability: same payment for the entire life of the loan. More expensive today, but protected against rises. Recommended if your budget is tight or you value stability over optimisation.

A variable mortgage is referenced to the Euribor + a margin. Lower payments when rates are low, but exposed to rises. It makes sense if you have financial margin and are willing to absorb the cycle.

A mixed mortgage combines both: an initial fixed period (3, 5, 10 years) and then variable. Useful if you want to secure the first years (purchase costs come due) and believe the cycle will change later.

Key insight

Choose by risk profile, not market intuition. Predicting Euribor is not your job.

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APR, NIR, linked products: what really matters

NIR is the interest rate. APR includes fees and linked products. Only APR allows real comparison between offers — and linked products hide the true cost.

NIR is the percentage the bank charges for the money. APR includes NIR + fees + costs + impact of linked products. Only APR enables comparison between banks.

Linked products are services the bank asks you to subscribe to in order to "lower" the NIR: payroll, insurance (life, home), cards, pension plans. Each one has a real cost that often exceeds the rate reduction.

Always ask for the offer WITHOUT linked products AND WITH linked products, calculate APR for each, and compare with the actual cost of the linked services (not the discounted one, the real one).

In the PDF

What documentation to gather and request

In the PDF: complete list of what to prepare and what to request from the bank before signing. And what most people sign without reading.

In the PDF

How to negotiate real conditions

In the PDF: the 6 negotiation levers that actually move the needle, when and how to use them, and the arguments the bank actually listens to.

In the PDF

The 4 critical clauses

In the PDF: floor clause (yes, it still exists in some form), early repayment and cancellation fees, early termination, and default interest.

In the PDF

Signing and the FEIN document

In the PDF: the precontract phase (FEIN, FIAE, binding offer), the mandatory 10 days of reflection, what to review with your notary, and how the signing actually works.

In the PDF

After signing

In the PDF: how to manage early repayments, when to refinance with another bank, how to remove linked products when you can, and the moves that renegotiate at no cost.

Frequently asked questions

As a rule, up to 80% of the lower of valuation or purchase price. For primary residences and solid profiles, some banks reach 90%. Above 80% it is considered "high financing" and usually comes with worse conditions.

There is no universal answer. Tight budget or you do not want to worry about rates → fixed. Margin and you believe rates will fall → variable. Want protection for the first years → mixed. The decision is about profile, not prediction.

Only the ones you already pay for or the bank offers competitively. A reasonable payroll or life insurance can be acceptable. A high-fee card or a forced pension plan, almost never.

Between 30 and 60 days from a complete application. Well-prepared documentation can shorten it. Special situations (self-employed, variable income, complex valuations) can extend it.

Yes. Partial (reducing principal) and total (cancellation) prepayments are regulated by law with maximum fees: 0.15% on variable in years 1-5, 2% on fixed years 1-10, 1.5% on fixed years 11+. Above those limits, the fee is illegal.

The full guide, as a PDF

What you read here as a summary is developed in full inside the PDF: complete chapters, printable checklists and templates for the moments that matter. It lands in your inbox in under a minute.

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