PROPERTY
4 Steps to Buying & Services
4 Steps to Buy a Property in Spain & Services
There are generally there are 4 steps to purchase a property in Spain.
1) PRE-PURCHASE
The home visit, making an agreement and price negotiation.
Request the basic information from the Property Registry to check debts, Liens, embargos, if government protected, meters build etc.
We strongly recommend a Technical Inspection of the property before the Arras deposit payment.
The agent passes the offer to the seller and if he agrees we move on to step 2.
NOTE: Signing any document to visit the property or paying a reserve to make an offer, often locks you into subsequent conditions, particularly the agents' commission but also the price and dates.
We recommend NOT to sign any document that you are not 100% sure of or feel pressured to sign.
Explain to the agent that you need to consult with your lawyer.
2) ARRAS deposit contract.
There is a lot of pressure by the sellers agent to sign the Arras as soon as possible.
It is the first legal step and is a formal agreement between you and the seller to establish:
- Final purchase price.
- Deadline date to complete the final purchase of the property.
- Conditions to be completed before final purchase. If there are items to fix, furniture list, etc.
- 10% of the final purchase price is transferred from the seller to the buyer.
If the buyer cancels the deal before the deadline, he or she will lose the deposit.
If the seller cancels the deal before the deadline, he or she must return 200% of the deposit amount.
During this period all documents are collected, checked and prepared for the final purchase and sale.
3) PURCHASE SALE.
This is the final purchase and sale contract before a Notary between the buyer and the seller.
The Notary verifies all documents and their agreement.
The buyer transfers payment to the seller by check or immediate transfer.
The seller passes the keys to the buyer who at that moment is the 100% owner of the property.
4) AFTER SALES.
After the purchase the 10% taxes are paid through the Notary.
The property is registered at the Land Registry (this may take a few weeks)
The property is also registered with the town hall.
The agent transfers the seller's electricity, water and other utilities into the buyers name.
The land registry will confirm and send an updated Property Deed in your name.
OTHER COSTS TO CONSIDER
When you buy a property you must take into account the other expenses involved. taxes, agents, notary, etc.
These generally add up to 14-15% on the purchase price.
- TAX 10% of the purchase value.* (it is 11% of the vsalue is over 1 million, from 01 June 2026 it will decrease by 1% to 9%)
- Real estate agency fees: In Valencia the usual rate is 3% or 4% of the value plus VAT, 21% for the buyer and 3% for the seller.
- Lawyer Fees 1% of the value + VAT
- Notarial expenses are divided between the buyer and the seller and can be €450-€750 depending on the number of pages of the contract of attached documents, more expensive.
- The Notary also pays the property taxes & register the property to ensure it is legally validated. This can be a fee of €250 to €400.
- Property Registration fee probably between €250 and €450, depending on the value of the property.
- Property Registry Documents: The complete report document on Debts & Charges can cost between €40 and €100.
- Technical Inspection by Architect. This cost is €250 to €450 depending on the size of the property and distance to be travelled.
PROPERTY RELATED SERVICES
We have different services related to property purchase and investment.
CONSULATION
In a one hour consultation we can go over the full process of the property purchase step
by step. The stages of purchasing, negotiating price, the offer, reserve fee, deposit "Arras"
contract and final purchase. Review properties you may interested in, the pricing, the way
agents work and their commissions, what to avoid, what is important to look for, when the
agent represents the seller and also you buyer. Legal aspects that are important to cover:
securing there are no debts, taxes, liens. inheritance issues or protection, expropriation
rights on the property and in general the documentation required at each step. How to get
the price down, mortgages, avoid unnecessary costs as well as answer any questions and
doubts you many have.
FULL PROPERTY PURCHASE
This includes the full process from start to finish.
No matter what part of the property process in you are in, searching for properties,
preparing an offer, or ready to sign we can help immediately.
- Give advice on properties or zones, tip and what to look out for.
- Advise on making an offer and how to get the price down, comparing to other properties, the market, using your leverage etc.
- Assisting with the agent and reviewing and translated the various documents they ask you to sign so are not sure of what they want. Please most agents represent listing on online platforms will want to represent the seller and you. And always the seller is favoured.
- Booking and accompanying you to the NIE number appointments if needed.
- Before signing the "arras" 10% deposit contract we organize a Technical Inspection by an architect.
- A full inspection of the property registry documents for any mortgages, past debts, embargos, inheritance issues or illegal builds.
- Checking with the Building Administrator if there any issues with the building, old debts or future projects that must be paid for.
- Checking with the townhall for any protected properties, historical restrictions, right of buy options, zoning restrictions, etc.
- We prepare the contracts for Arras Deposit, as well as the final sale contract at Notary.
- We assist with the banks, and the payments or cheques and can save on international transfer and bank fees.
- Once purchased we follow up with the Notary on 10% payment of tax, towhnall & Property Registration of the property in your name.
We guide you through the whole process, accompany you to appointments, and can deal directly with the agency or sellers lawyer to make things go smoothly and keep you informed at every step and if there are any issues.
At each stage we will obtain the documents needed and explain them to you so you have a full understanding. all the other documents needed to complete the sale.
MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE
The mortgage rates are good in Spain and the banks are open to non-resident mortgages of up to 70% of the valuation of the property if your house hold combined income is 45000€ or higher. Therefore a mortgage is work exploring the option. You can go directly to the banks or use a mortgage broker who can charge between 1-1.5% of the mortgage.
The process can be quite stressing especially with the documents required and the Spanish system has a lot of steps, usually 3 to 4 people, pre-checks as well as 2 notary readings. Many times we have to pressure the bank or mortgage broker to get the mortgage process completely as quickly as possible so the final sale is not delayed or the "arras" contract is cancelled. This can become quite intense and it is important to know what you need and when to be prepared.
If you want our help obtaining a mortgage with a bank, revising and completing the paperwork send for you to sign, translations, organizing the notary the fee varies depending on the work involved.
If you only need advice on the mortgage or help with some documents and there is no fee for that.
PRICE NEGOTIATIONS
If you would like to us to negotiate the price with the seller or agent we can help with that. This can be time consuming and draining with agency's but we have been successful in getting prices down.
NIE Number
We can help you to obtain a NIE number for the property purchase.
POWER OF ATTORNEY
This can be a general power to cover every aspect of the full property purchase or mortgage or just for the NIE number.
We will book, accompany and translate at the Notary.
MORTGAGE
The mortgage rates are very good in Spain with a lot of people getting 1.8% to 3.5% fixed rates.
The banks are open to non-resident mortgages of up to 70% of the valuation of the property if your the combined income is 45000€+. Therefore it is worth exploring the option or a mortgage.
If you are a resident and have msde one tax declaration in Spain you can obtain and 80% residents mortgage.
You can get this directly with the banks (recommended) or use a mortgage broker which will charge between 1-1.5% of the mortgage.
It is also recommended to get a pre-approval of the mortgage before making any offers on property. You can this in 1-2 days giving the bank some basic information (see below).
Steps of Mortgage
1) Simply write to or visit the bank and tell them you need a mortgage and give them some information on your finances.
2) The bank will revise your data and give you a pre-approval of up to how much you can borrow.
With this is the best time to start looking for properties.
3) When you find the property the bank will need:
Evaluation (Tasacion), Arras deposit contract & Nota Simple to finalize the mortgage approval based on the property.
4) When approved you will sign the agreement with the bank called a FEIN.
5) After signing the FEIN there is a 12 day cooling off period in case you change your mind.
6) During the cooling off period you must go the Notary to read through the Mortgage agreement and confirm you agree.
7) The mortgage is then activated and signed on the same day you purchase the property.
The process can be quite stressing especially due to the documents required and the Spanish system has a lot of steps, usually with various different people, Bank evaluation, pre-reading of Mortgage at Notary, 12 day. cooling off period. Many times it is necessary to pressure the bank or mortgage broker to get the mortgage process completed as quickly as possible so the final sale is not delayed or the "arras" contract is cancelled. This can become quite intense and it is important to know what you need and when to be prepared.
CONTACT or to get pre-approval
Caixabank
Name: Belen VITROIA ARIAS (speaks English & French)
E-mail: bvitoria@caixabank.com
