It All Started Here

Every journey has a starting point. In this first episode of 20 Years of Mortgages, Katherine and Kevin take us back to where it all began — arriving in Spain, falling in love with the lifestyle, and quickly realising how complex the mortgage process was for international buyers. What started as frustration became an opportunity: to build a mortgage brokerage designed specifically for foreigners navigating the Spanish property market. They are joined by Alex Vaughan, founder of Lucas Fox, first partner in the history of MD, who shares his own early experience of building a business in Spain and recognising the same gap in the market. Together, they explore the challenges of starting from scratch in a foreign country, building trust as outsiders, and how those early decisions shaped the industry we know today. This episode is about foundations — the moments that don’t feel significant at the time, but define everything that comes after.