Honest Mortgage: a column on lending from someone who used to approve it

Good afternoon! Our blog is adding a new column and a new author: Olga Solonenko, co-founder of True Square. Before real estate she spent 15 years in lending, across five banks and on both sides of the process — she started as a credit analyst, sat on the credit committee as the sole decision-maker on loan applications, and later wrote credit policies and risk procedures herself. Once a week we will be explaining how a bank actually thinks, and how knowing that saves a borrower tens of thousands of euros.

Honest Mortgage: a column on lending from someone who used to approve it

Why now. We have written about this before: the local credit buyer is back in the market, and more home loans were issued in 2025 than in any year since 2010. A fixed rate today runs 3.2-3.4% over three years, while average inflation across those three years has been 1.42%. That puts the effective cost of borrowing below 2% a year — debt is getting cheaper faster than the cost of living is rising. A good enough market to take on a mortgage. But a mortgage for a non-resident is an individual matter: the same family can be approved at 3.2%, be offered materially worse terms, or be turned down outright, depending on how the case is assembled.

What the column will cover, working from the simple to the complex:

• The fundamentals, properly. Why the effective rate comes in below inflation, and where the bank actually makes its money (we will surprise you — stay tuned). Why a loan payment can be lower than rent, though not for everyone. What creditworthiness is built from, and the 0-50% down-payment ladder by passport.
• Risk against return. The mechanics of bank risk. How many pairs of hands your loan file passes through. What the underwriter really sees in your bank statement. Why a Cyprus salary counts as category A income while freelance work paid in euros reads as "unreliable" — and how to package your income for the bank, legally. Rate stress tests, the residual income requirement, and why the bank wants your insurance. Everything about credit history and early repayment.
• Behind the scenes. How credit committees actually run, who really decides on your deal, and whether your loan officer can influence it. Risk scoring models at Cypriot banks. The top five reasons non-residents get rejected, and how to avoid them. KYC and source of funds. What TTY is, and what KPIs loan officers are held to. And the grey zones of credit policy: where the bank has the right to make an exception that your relationship manager will not tell you about.
• Cases from day-to-day practice. The same format you know from Honest Meters: verified numbers only, arithmetic instead of promises, and honest caveats wherever the benefit is not obvious. The first case study lands next week — how "saving" €25,000 on a down payment turns into €60,000 in extra interest.

One last piece of advice: a mortgage is not a product you are either given or refused. In practice it is a case that gets built. A well-built case earns both the approval and the better terms — and that is exactly what this column is for.

Questions about your own situation — message @olga_solonenko directly or olga@square.cy. Reviewing your case before you go to the bank is free.