The 9 Must Know Steps to Your Beautiful Spanish Property!

After a lot of thinking and deciding if it’s better to rent or buy a house, you’ve already decided…

I want to buy a house! It’s a moment of nerves and joy. But for that feeling to last and not end up regretting it, there are a series of steps you must take before buying a house and certain information you must be clear about.

Here You Go! The 9 Steps

1. NIE number: First of all, you have to get your NIE number (numero de identification extranjeros)
   You need it for operations as buying a car, a property, sign contracts, pay
   taxes, etc.
2. Get a Lawyer: When buying from FSBO (For Sale By Owner) I suggest to choose an independent lawyer, specialized in property law who will check all the legal papers of the property before you will sign the reservation contract. You would need to get from the sellers the “Nota Simple”, in that paperwork you’ll find if there is depts, and if the register is all ok as well. Also when buying with loan I suggest to see if they have the First Ocupation LicenseLPO.
   1. In case buying with agency, they might have a lawyer working in the office. If not, I still recommend to get your own lawyer.
3. Bank account: You would need to open a Spanish bank account.
4. Loan or Cash? If you need a loan, check out different financial brokers to see what they could get you for deals by the Spanish banks. We have a financial broker at our office who could help you out as well.
5. Check all the costs: Taxes are around 10% extra on top of the sales price. Find out the renovation costs if necesary, also find out what are the community costs and the IBI which is yearly.

Decided to Buy?

1. Make an Written Formal Offer: The deposit money for the offer (which is normally €2.000 or €3.000), or the reservation money (which is tipically in between 5% and 10% from the sales price), CAN be transferred from your foreign bank account number, but when going to the notary, you will need to have a Spanish bank account yes or yes.
   1. The reason why its better to make an written formal offer with deposit, it’s better to show to the sellers as they see you are serious in buying.
2. Negociation: Meanwile the negotiation, ask the Title Deed (escrituras) of the sellers to check the description and other information.
3. When offer accepted: Sign the reservation contract -With the 5-10% of the sales price-. It confirms your intend to buy the property, and for the seller the intention to sell it and from that moment the property will be removed from the market and the deal is locked in.
   1. Before signing any reservation contract, any other interested buyer can still buy the property before you.
   2. So, make sure everything is all legal, without depts, price negociated and both parties are 100% about this deal!
4. Notary: Set a date for the notary which suits the 2 parts. Tipically the maximum date is 3 months from signing the reservation contract. Meanwile collect all documentation, get your cheques or bank transfers ready and you can enjoy your new place!

For more information about buying, click here. You can also download free guides!

Feeling overwhelmed and need personal advice/ assistance? Don’t hesitate and give me a message at fia.addicks@zome.es