Legalities of buying in Spain

Buying a property in Spain is different to buying in any other country and therefore it is essential you engage professional people to represent you. Unlike most of the European countries where your Solicitor will carry out all the searches necessary to discover any encumbrances there may be attached to the property, in Spain the average Lawyer in most cases will only check out the legal status, i.e. charges or embargos recorded on the property register. It's worth nothing that in Spain debts incurred by the previous owner relating to the property, unpaid community taxes for example, will be passed to the new owner.

Generally speaking an average Spanish Lawyer would not normally make enquiries with the local planning authorities in order to discover whether there were any plans that may affect the property in the future.

For example, an average Lawyer involved in a property purchase would ensure that there were no outstanding mortgages or other encumbrances and that the seller was the legal owner of the property and, therefore, had the right to sell. However, it is unlikely he would discover that the town hall had a plan to route a new highway close to the house and as a consequence would require you to give up 2 metres of your garden! Or when the previous owner had made illegal reformations to the property leaving outstanding fines in the Town Hall for the new owner to deal with.

Legal Advice and Assistance

From now on until and after completion of the purchase, our independent Lawyer, who speaks excellent English, will take care and assist you in all the different steps involved in the transaction. Choosing the right Lawyer is our guarantee that Spanish legal requirements are met, that the property is registered in the vendor's name and that it is free of any mortgages, charges, encumbrances, debts or other liabilities. Our Lawyer will negotiate and discuss the purchase terms with the seller. The terms should not be limited solely to price but should cover in detail all your requirements like the completion date, the form of payment...etc. Once you have met our Lawyer, he will explain the procedure involved in buying in Spain and the associated costs. The next step after paying the reservation deposit is to examine and witness the terms of purchase in writing. At this stage our Lawyer will draw up the private contract. It is customary to pay a deposit of 3.000,-€ the completion will take place within six weeks from signing the private contract, then an extra ten per cent of the selling price is required after four weeks, the completion will take longer than these six weeks, for example three months. The paid deposits are not normally refundable if the purchaser defaults.

Conversely, if the vendor fails to perform his obligations, you will be entitled to withdraw the contract and claim damages. Before our Lawyer exchanges contracts, he will have completed his searches and investigations in respect of the property.

Finally, on the day fixed for completion our Lawyer will accompany you to the Notary Public. He will translate the title deed to you in order for you to sign the title deed afterwards, making the final payment to the vendor who will simultaneously pass over possession of the property to you, handing you the keys. You can also give Power of Attorney to our Lawyer in case you can´t attend the Notary Public, he then will sign on your behalf. At this stage the sale is completed. Immediately after completion, the notary will fax details of the title deed to the local land registry to inform them of the identity of the new owner, to prevent the property being sold twice. In this way the notary and the Land Registry act together to protect and guarantee your interests. You will then have to pay the relevant taxes and have the original title deed submitted to the Land Registry for registration of your title. Our lawyer can also arrange for the transfer to your name of utilities and services such as water and electricity and organise their payment by means of direct debet / standing order through your local bank and, very important, to make a Spanish Will for your assets in Spain. After the purchase the lawyer is also your main partner to arrange the INCOME and WEALTH tax which has to be paid in Spain! Please send him an e-mail, if your not quite sure if you arranged everything accordingly, as it might save you paying fines and dealing with Spanish bureaucracy!