The best way to negotiate a home is to arrive with your financing prepared: knowing how much you can pay, how much you can borrow and on what terms, before falling in love with a particular house. That way you negotiate the price with confidence and do not lose the property to deadlines.
Work out your real capacity
Add up your stable net income and subtract fixed expenses and other debts. Lenders usually consider that the housing payment, added to other loans, should not exceed 30-35% of net income. With that limit clear, you will know what price range you can realistically look at.
Build the savings: deposit plus costs
Financing usually covers at most around 80% of the lower of price and valuation, so you need the deposit and, separately, the purchase costs and taxes. Also keep a cushion for the unexpected: furniture, small repairs or the first breakdown should not put the first year's payments at risk.
Prepare the paperwork
Lenders usually ask for payslips or proof of income, employment history, tax returns, a list of current debts and recent bank statements. If you are self-employed, prepare a longer income history. Having it all organised from the start can cut weeks off the assessment.
Compare and ask before signing
Request offers from several lenders and compare the European Standardised Information Sheet, the standard document with all the conditions: interest rate, APR, fees, linked products and term. Pay attention to the difference between fixed, variable and mixed rates and to what each linked product really costs. Spanish mortgage law requires the lender to give you the ESIS and the rest of the contractual documentation at least ten calendar days before signing, and you can review it at the notary: use that time to ask about everything you do not understand.
With financing clear, start searching
Once you know your maximum price and have a pre-approval, the catalogue of flats and houses in Extremadura shows what is advertised now in each locality, linked from agency websites, so you can search within your real range.