Legal services for property/house purchasing in Spain

Villa Sol Real Estate Agency is fully Licensed Estate Agents in accordance with European Regulations.

You will find listed below a brief outline of the basic legal procedures involved in buying property in Spain.

1) CONTRACT

You will sign a Purchase Agreement in English. If you cannot be present at this time authorisation can be given for your Agent to act on your behalf.  In the Contract all parties are listed, seller, buyer, agents and property details  According to the Legal Deeds, in this Contract the price and payment terms are shown.

2) PAYMENT TERMS

The buyer will be required to pay a deposit to secure the property prior to the Contract being signed. It depends on the property you are buying, usually 3.000? or between 5-10% of the Contract price.

Not everyone will have this amount of money with them, we do not insist on you having a deposit with you, unlike a lot of Agents.

The deposit monies can be transferred from your Bank/Building Society into the Sellers/Agents account within one week.

Once the deposit has been received the Contract will be put in place and completion date agreed, normally between 1-3 months. In which time we will do all the necessary searches to make sure the property is debt free.

3) MORTGAGE

If a mortgage is required on the property we will accompany you to an English speaking bank offering the best rates and terms for you. You will need to show

P60. End of year Accounts.

Proof of Income.

It may be possible to take over an existing mortgage on the property if this proves beneficial to you. This can usually be a cheaper option as set-up fees and charges are avoided.

4) COSTS AND TAXES

The purchase tax is 7% of the declared purchase price, the Notary charges depend on the amount of the transaction, which would normally cost in the region of €600, the register costs in the region of €300 with the additional costs for admin of €200.

5) NOTARY’S OFFICE

The Deeds are the Definitive Purchase Agreement signed between the seller, buyer and witnessed by the Notary. This will take place at the Notary’s office, who acts for both parties.

6) PAYMENT

This will take place at the Notary’s office at the same time as signing the Deeds. Once signed, all legal costs and taxes are paid to the corresponding departments. The Notary’s office would normally handle all the documentation involved. If there is a mortgage in place the bank would therefore provide the documentation service.

FINALLY

Once all the above is complete the property is now YOURS on a freehold basis and registered at the Land Registers Office.