The Lawyer or Asesoria/Gestor will assist you in obtaining an N.I.E. Number. This process will involve a visit to the police station in Torre del Mar, a representative from your legal professional’s office will accompany you. Your Lawyer or Asesoria/Gestor will also assist you with the purchase contracts, searches, Notary visit (signing and registration of new title deed plus final payment for the property) and the transfer of utility services.

The purchase contract (Contracto de Compraventa) should normally be raised by your appointed legal professional. It should include all clauses that are agreed by the seller and the buyer. Penalty clauses will apply should either party decide not to proceed. Once the contract is agreed, a deposit will be paid by the purchaser which is normally 10% of the purchase price. Please note that this deposit is non-refundable.
Searches will be carried out by your legal professional prior to the signing of the title deeds in order to obtain a Nota Simple. This is an important document which confirms that the vendor is the registered owner of the property. Your legal professional will also verify that there are no outstanding charges or debts on the property, including all the utility bills relating to the property.

Quite often an owner will not have registered his/her property, which is no cause for concern. One of the main reasons for not registering a property is that years ago the owner may have only earned very little. As the registration cost was around 300 euros this did not make economic sense. Title can still be proved by your legal professional by carrying out further searches to verify ownership. If ownership cannot be proved the deposit will be refunded.

You will be required to open a Spanish bank account and this can be done simply by providing your passport. (Please note that no funds are required to open the account). To complete the purchase, the necessary funds will be deposited into this account and a certified cheque withdrawn for exchange at the Notary.

In order to cover the cost of taxes and expenses which will be incurred during the purchase process, it is necessary to add approximately 10% to the price of the chosen property.

The Land Value Tax (Plusvalía) is paid to the town hall after sale of the property and is calculated on the increase of the value of the property since the last sale. Although this is normally paid by the vendor, in Andalucia it is not unusual for the purchaser to pay this tax (this is usually a relatively small amount).

Value Added Tax (I.V.A.) for new properties only.

If you have bought a new home (with garage) you must pay to the builder 7% I.V.A. of the price declared on the title deed.

If you have bought a business or a garage without a home you must pay to the builder 18% I.V.A. It will show in the title deed that you have paid this amount to the builder.

The mortgage situation is constantly changing in Spain as more products are becoming available– please contact us for further information.

This information is for guidance purposes only – please feel free to contact us for clarification on any of the above details.