“One Firm” to Buy Property in Spain + Get a Mortgage (Non‑Residents): What It Really Means

For foreign / non-resident buyers, “one firm” is only valuable if it covers the critical path from affordability → mortgage plan → offer terms → deposit/arras → bank timeline → notary completion, without leaving you exposed to avoidable deadline and deposit risk.

In other words: it’s not “one company does everything in-house.” It’s one point of coordination that keeps the whole process aligned—while still using independent specialists where that’s safer (especially legal advice).

In practice, the best version of “one firm” is usually a coordinator who:

• sequences tasks and deadlines,
• manages handoffs between parties (bank / valuation / lawyer / seller-side agents),
• and keeps one “critical path” timeline so nothing drifts.

You can still (and usually should) use an independent lawyer for legal due diligence and contract advice. That’s a different role.

For remote buyers, some steps may be handled via Power of Attorney (POA) where appropriate, which should be done using the normal lawyer/notary process and independent legal review.

1) You get a mortgage quote, not a mortgage plan. A quote doesn’t tell you whether your profile is actually financeable, what documents will bottleneck, or whether the bank timeline will fit your offer/arras deadlines. 

Fix: insist on a pre-assessment / pre-check that includes document readiness + realistic timing.

2) The property search isn’t aligned with financing reality. Non-residents often waste weeks viewing or negotiating properties that are hard to finance, hard to value, or likely to delay underwriting. 

Fix: align search criteria with bank constraints early (price band, location constraints, property type/documentation constraints).

3) Arras is signed with deadlines that don’t match bank processing times. This is where non-resident purchases get expensive: a deadline mismatch becomes stress, renegotiation, or worst-case deposit loss. 

Fix: negotiate terms and timing with the mortgage timeline in mind, and have an independent lawyer review the contract and any financing-related clause.

4) Nobody owns the handoffs (bank ↔ valuation ↔ lawyer ↔ seller side). Delays often happen because each party is “waiting on someone else,” and the buyer only finds out when it’s urgent. 

Fix: put one person/team in charge of the timeline and escalation—so valuation scheduling, document requests, and legal checks happen early enough.

5) “One firm” hides scope boundaries until late. Some providers imply they “handle everything,” but the buyer later discovers what’s excluded (legal advice, technical checks, who holds funds, etc.). 

Fix: get scope + fees + responsibilities in writing before paying anything.

A useful “one firm” setup is a team that can help coordinate the sequence below:

• Budget and affordability (including costs)
• Mortgage strategy + pre-assessment (before you commit deposits)
• Property search and viewings (including remote/clustered visits)
• Negotiation (price, inclusions, deadlines)
• Reservation / arras coordination (deposit structure, timeline, conditions)
• Due diligence coordination (legal + technical checks via independent specialists)
• Bank submission + valuation/tasación coordination
• Notary closing coordination (signing, funds movement, keys)

A combined setup is often chosen because it reduces coordination gaps between:

• what you think you can buy vs what the bank will actually finance, and
• offer/arras deadlines vs the real bank + valuation timeline.

If you’re actively buying, use the guide (it’s the maintained reference with the full checklist and FAQs): One firm to buy property in Spain + get a mortgage (for non-residents) https://prestaestate.com/guide/one-firm-buy-property-and-get-a-mortgage-spain

If you’re earlier in the process, the safest starting point is usually: mortgage pre-assessment first, then property search and offer strategy—so you don’t sign deposit terms based on assumptions.